Lewis Hamilton has claimed that he sees no change in how Max Verstappen raced against him in Formula 1 in 2021 compared to his rival’s battles with Lando Norris.
Verstappen’s driving has been put under the microscope once more this past week due to the two 10-second time penalties that he picked up in Mexico last weekend.
The clampdown on Verstappen pushing Norris wide came amid criticism having been levelled at the FIA over similar incidents going unpunished in the United States.
Norris, who recovered to second, branded the Dutchman’s antics as “dangerous” over his team radio and later claimed post-race that his title rival went “over the limit”.
Hamilton is no stranger to going wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen in a championship contest as the two locked horns on multiple occasions during a titanic 2021 fight.
The Briton has admitted that Verstappen’s aggressive approach to racing Norris during recent times has been identical to what he experienced back in that campaign.
Asked whether he considered Verstappen’s driving “dangerous”, Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week: “All you have to do is just go back and listen to my radio comments back in the day.
“It’s not really something I really want to tap into. It’s nothing to do with me at the moment.
“So obviously, if I was in the battle, I could lean in more into it. But these are the things you have to ask those two because they’re the ones that it’s affecting.
“But I don’t think you see much difference across the years from 2021 to now. It’s pretty much the same.”
Norris has chance to beat Verstappen
Norris comes into this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix needing to outscore Verstappen 11 points on average a round in the last four events to secure his maiden title.
However, Verstappen continues to approach each race on the back foot as Red Bull struggles with the wrong turn in development which unravelled its dominant start.
But while Norris has an uphill task to overcome Verstappen’s 47-point margin, Hamilton, McLaren’s last Drivers’ Champion, believes his compatriot has a good chance.
“I think it’s really exciting for the sport, firstly, too,” Hamilton added regarding the championship contest.
“The last couple of years, not necessarily so exciting, obviously, with Max just leading the way and that sometimes happens.
“But I think it’s been really exciting for the fans to see that it can go right down to the wire at the end of the year.
“There’s still a possibility of Lando catching up.
“I read somewhere I think he’s got to get 11 points more or something in each race or something over these next races, which is definitely possible with the performance they have.
“We all know Max and his strengths and can’t really say too many weaknesses, if any.
“And you’ve got, obviously, Lando, who’s really risen to the occasion and has been really leading the team.
“I haven’t really spent too much time looking at how their race, how they’re racing and how they’re positioning the cars.
“Obviously, everyone knows of what happened in the last race or the last two races, but everyone will have an opinion on it.
“But at the end of the day, those two of the drivers, they know what they’re doing.
“Yeah, I’m really excited to see what happens over these next races. I’m hoping that I can at least have a good seat view to watch it all as they’ll be ahead.”
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