Although since 2014 it has always been a Mercedes driver who has won the Formula 1 World Championship, with Lewis Hamilton having won six of the seven disputed in the current regulatory era, experts do not see him as a favorite in 2021. According to several former ex pilots, the British is not being the same as always. He is making a lot of mistakes and that is something that Max Versteppen has taken advantage of, who with six races ahead is 6 points ahead of him in the standings.
“The classification does not reflect the real situation. Hamilton has made many mistakes by paying a low price for them, unlike Verstappen . So far, Max and Red Bull’s season has been perfect ; while I detect fatigue in Lewis and his team . In Turkey they failed a lot. But I do not consider Mercedes dead, ”said Jaques Villeneuve , champion in 1997, at La Gazzetta dello Sport .
“ In the past, Mercedes didn’t need to have a good strategy, they won anyway . Like at Ferrari in the time of Michael Schumacher: everyone said they were geniuses, even when the strategy was wrong, but they were so superior that they won anyway ”, he added
Mark Webber, for his part, stated: “We are experiencing a phenomenal duel between Lewis and Max, but Hamilton’s mistakes are already showing . Like in Baku or the strange behavior before the restart in Hungary, when 19 drivers came in to change tires, and Hamilton was the only driver with intermediate tires that he trained for the start. For me, some of these mistakes are quite atypical for Lewis . “
According to David Coulthard these errors denote that Hamilton is running under pressure: “There have been one or two Lewis incidents and most of the time he got away with it. I mean his departure from the track to the gravel of Imola, for example, or the rubbing of the guardrail in Russia. None of them were gigantic actions, but, for me, you can see something in them: they are under pressure ”.
Verstappen’s pressure on Hamilton
Red Bull, with Max Verstappen, is putting pressure on Lewis Hamilton, something they are aware of. “ It is the first time that Mercedes and Toto are in a situation of total challenge . Until now, they had been calm, with the pilots booked and with the whole engine in place. They did a great job of establishing a winning dynamic, but they had no real competition , “said Christian Horner.
“This season there is a real competition between two teams and there is respect between us. Of course, I think we operate differently and that may be the key to this Championship. We like this battle and when Toto gets nervous, everything is more fun, ”added the Red Bull team boss.
Hamilton, against public opinion
As several experts have done, some drivers have opted for Max Verstappen in his fight with Lewis Hamilton . The one who preferred not to get wet is Daniel Ricciardo: “In the end, may the best man win, also because this year both have created a rivalry that for the neutral fan has been and is being spectacular. So, from that point of view, I don’t think I have any preference ”.
However, he noted: “However, I think people would like to see a new face at the top and that is why Max would be a more popular world champion .”
Clearly against Lewis Hamilton was Yuki Tsunoda, who kept the Briton behind him during the first eight laps of the Turkish Grand Prix. ” It’s Honda’s last year and I want Max to win , Honda’s last year, and also for Red Bull, so I tried to keep Lewis behind as much as possible , I don’t know how many laps,” he admitted. “I tried to keep him behind for 20 laps, eight laps is not enough,” lamented the AlphaTauri rider.
Alonso does not see Hamilton as a favorite either
Like Yuki Tsunoda , Fernando Alonso defended his position tooth and nail against Lewis Hamilton during the Hungarian Grand Prix, allowing teammate Esteban Ocon to claim victory at the Hungaroring. ” We know that Fernando Alonso is not a big fan of Lewis Hamilton as we saw in Budapest, so we expect more help, ” said Christian Horner trying to add the Asturian to the cause.
Fernando Alonso , for his part, preferred to stay on the sidelines: ” Of course I like to fight with good drivers, but I think Red Bull really has to do it for itself this season .” Even so, the Asturian showed his preference for Max Verstappen. “I think he ‘s at his best right now, I consider him the best in the paddock right now.” “I think he has reached a level of maturity that is very high and, with his natural speed, it becomes quite difficult for anyone to beat him. So I think he is the favorite for this year and probably for the next few years to come ”, he concluded.
