LEWIS IN CLASS OF HIS OWN
Rosberg warns ‘he gets in your head’ after Brit blows Verstappen away
ThIS win — Lewis hamilton’s 97th — will not linger in the memory among his most extraordinary, but as a demonstration of relentless, metronomic, rival- destroying reliability, it will do just nicely.
When the portuguese Grand prix was over, the man who knows hamilton’s driving best, the only team-mate who ever bettered him in a title contest, hoofed it across the paddock — destination the airport — to deliver his verdict.
nico rosberg, the 2016 champion, stopped to tell Sportsmail what it must be like inside the mind of Max Verstappen, the red Bull driver who was beaten into second place yesterday in the sun-lit algarve.
‘It is only when you are up against Lewis, in close combat, in cars that are about as fast as each other, that you really get to understand how good he is.
‘In a few years’ time we will look back and say that Max is an all-time great, one of the top 10 drivers in history. yes, he could possibly beat Lewis this season, of course, but he is making a few mistakes and that is something he cannotannot afford to do.
‘ he will needed to be absolutelyy perfect to win the championship.’
Well, the Dutchman was not perfect this weekend and he is eight points back in the standings after threee races as a consequence. eeded he exceeded track limits in qualifying, ualifyased, his time erased, and started third. and yesterday he made a mistake coming into lap 11, which allowed hamilton to execute his decisive move at 200mph.
The seven- time champion slipped his Mercedes up the inside of Verstappen at the first corner and then held the youngeyounger man off as he tried to wrest back the place at the fofourth corner. hhamilton stuck hhis elbows out, aand that was his rival dealt with. Finally, as the race reached its end, Verstappen ccame in for new ssoft tyres in an attattempt to set the fasfastest lap. he thougthought he had managed agedmanaged iit, only for his effort to beb wiped off. he had crossed the track boundaries again. Small margins, little things. ‘Lewis was phenomenal,’ said rosberg. ‘ Of course these things can get into your head when you are racing against him.’
Verstappen, shifting uneasily in his chair at the post-race press conference, said: ‘I don’t need nico to make me realise how good Lewis is. I know he is very good otherwise you don’t win so many championships.’
There should be respect between them all. rosberg was offering an honest viewpoint, while hamilton and Verstappen — for now, at least — are engaged in a friendly fight.
The story of hamilton’s race was this: he started second, behind Valtteri Bottas, his team-mate, who finished third. he was passed by Verstappen early on but soon avenged that in the manner described above.
next in his sights was Bottas, who started on pole and was then the leader, but always such a fragile one.
hamilton darted to the left in the braking zone at Turn One and passed the Finn on the outside. he immediately put his foot to the floor, stretching into a lead he never remotely looked likely to squander.
Bottas, overtaken by Verstappen halfway through the race, finished third, albeit taking the consolation of setting the fastest lap on fresh rubber once Max’s transgression had cost him that point.
hamilton has now won two races to Verstappen’s one this season, with the Spanish Grand prix coming up in quick order in Barcelona on Sunday.
‘ It is a great fight between Mercedes and red Bull and it is clear we will be pushing each other right until the last race,’ said hamilton. ‘We will be sick of each other by the end, I imagine.
‘none of us here is under an illusion as to just how hard it is out there and how close the battle is. We are all giving absolutely everything in our day-to-day lives to be best prepared to deliver at the weekend.’
What else happened on the undulating track? Kimi raikkonen lackadaisically drove into the back of his team-mate antonio Giovinazzi’s alfa romeo at the end of the opening lap, bringing out a safety car. It was at the restart that Verstappen made his pass on hamilton.
The two men will duel it out all season in what looks to be a closed fight, with neither Bottas nor Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio perez, who finished fourth here, suggesting they will be involved in the final reckoning.
‘It has been really cool,’ said Verstappen. ‘ When you race a driver that you know you can go to the absolute limit with, and you trust each other, it is really nice. With Lewis I have never thought I am going to crash.’
‘I second that,’ replied hamilton. ‘We will continue to keep it clean and on the edge.’