Adrian Newey remembers that it took the sequence of two races for Max Verstappen to lose his footing a little in 2021 in the fight between him and Lewis Hamilton. Put under pressure by two poor results, the Dutchman then had undefensible behavior in Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
“I think maybe it was a little bit in his championship win in 2021. When the intensity, especially after Silverstone, on the track, between Lewis and Max became so intense, I think Max had feelings very strong on the Silverstone accident” recalls Newey.
“And of course he was the championship leader before Silverstone, then he was knocked out of the race, and then more or less out of the race in Hungary, when he was hit by Valtteri [Bottas]not at all intentionally, but he still got hit and barely scored any points, so he went from being an easy championship leader to feeling a little more pressure.”
“And Mercedes managed to find a lot more rhythm in their car towards the end of the season. So it’s always easier for the hunter than the hunted. And Max was starting, I think, to feel a bit of pressure from the hunter’s part.”
In Brazil, he took Hamilton off the track, and did a brake test on the Mercedes F1 driver in Jeddah: “That’s why he was, actually, probably lucky not to be penalized for his conduct in Brazil. I think it wasn’t made clear, but Max was probably a little out of commission in Brazil really. , so I think he felt it a little bit.”
“Checo started to get closer, and if the teammates get closer, it’s not because the one behind is speeding up. It was the same with Fernando [Alonso] and Felipe Massa towards the end of 2010, they came together suddenly, because the lead driver was feeling the pressure.”
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