Callum reflects on the flashpoints between title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen
With the annual August hiatus in Formula 1 now over, the 2021 season will resume at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgium Grand Prix. It comes with great anticipation too given the rollercoaster ride of the first half of the season, of which had many highlights of notable intrigue. And the action that has undoubtedly grabbed the most attention on and off track has been the duel between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ title.
The reason for close competition between Mercedes and Red Bull is due to technical changes on the cars. With regulations introduced for 2021 reducing floor and diffuser sizes, teams with low-rake designs were hurt more than teams with high-rake designs, as there was less space under the floor to utilise for creating downforce. This resulted in performance loss for Mercedes, who run a low-rake philosophy, but enabled Red Bull to gain performance, who run a high-rake philosophy.
It could be alleged that the FIA deliberately decided to enact the change in order to destabilise Mercedes. Whatever the underlying intention, the outcome became evident at the first race of the season in Bahrain as Red Bull possessed a car with a clear performance advantage. But while that inherent pace was superior in qualifying, as demonstrated by Verstappen claiming pole position, that dominance was diminished in the race.
Hamilton started second on the grid, his Mercedes not only able to maintain pace with the Red Bull, but apply pressure to Verstappen as well. Able to follow closely, Mercedes were in a position to be proactive with strategy, and decided to trigger the undercut, which worked. Verstappen stayed out before pitting a number of laps later. Hamilton then pitted for a second time, with Verstappen again doing a longer stint on his tyres before coming in for his second pit stop.
"In the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the fight between Hamilton and Verstappen exposed small weaknesses in the Dutchman’s armoury"
It meant that while Verstappen was in second place behind Hamilton, the Red Bull had tyres that were eleven laps fresher than those on the Mercedes, with sixteen laps left until the chequered flag. It set up an intense end to the race as Verstappen closed up to Hamilton. With five laps to go, the gap was reduced to one second between the pair as an enthralling battle for victory unfolded.
It’s important to distinguish between the person and the driver. In the past I have expressed the view that I’m not keen on Verstappen as a person. I think he’s petulant and entitled, which is born from a background of privilege. He acts like a spoiled brat. And so far in the 2021 season, his true colours have revealed themselves on several occasions – a leopard never changes his spots. Therefore, my view of him as a person hasn’t changed. I’m no fan. Nevertheless, I have always said that he is a talented driver, who has considerable potential. That I have never doubted or denied.
Yet in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the fight between Hamilton and Verstappen exposed small weaknesses in the Dutchman’s armoury that do not yet make him a complete driver. As Verstappen attempted to pass Hamilton around the outside of turn four, the Red Bull overtook the Mercedes off of the race track. Verstappen was instructed to give the position back to Hamilton. But once Verstappen yielded the race lead, he never troubled Hamilton again.
The seven-time world champion had held on and outperformed Verstappen in an inferior car. It was an amazing display of Hamilton’s defensive driving skills, as he defied the odds to win the race. But the first flashpoint of the season revealed just as much about Verstappen too. Hamilton had exposed a chink in the armour of Verstappen. The attempted overtake on Hamilton looked frantic, and had some panic about it. Moreover, the manoeuvre looked desperate even.
This has more to do with Verstappen’s mental fortitude than anything else. In racing Hamilton under extreme pressure, when he had to deliver the result, a weakness in his psychological state of mind revealed itself. He lacked composure and calmness in a key moment to perform under pressure. He had failed to win the race, despite driving a superior car. It points to an underdeveloped mindset and capacity to absorb, endure and perform under extreme pressure.
It’s the first of several small weaknesses that have been exposed when Verstappen has raced Hamilton. Could it be a simple matter of learning through experience, or highlight a more fundamental personality flaw in his attitude and approach to racing? Perhaps both. But whatever the underlying reason, it prevented Verstappen from overtaking and beating Hamilton, and suggests that Hamilton has an advantage mentally over Verstappen. In a closely contested championship, that has to count for something.
For Mercedes, the biggest challenge with the W12 has been unlocking the known potential and extracting the inherent performance that is embedded in the car. It has proved a struggle at stages of the season, but was not a significant handicap at the second race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. At the Imola circuit in Italy, Hamilton was able to put his Mercedes on pole position, with Verstappen starting third on the grid. It was quite the turnaround from the deficit in pace compared to Red Bull at the first race.
One of the traits that has come to define Verstappen is his very aggressive and uncompromising driving style. It’s an approach that does have its pros and cons. It very much forces rival drivers he is duelling with on track into a position of submission, and requires them to yield. This is what Hamilton did at Imola. It was a wet start to the race, with Hamilton getting a decent launch from lights out, but Verstappen got a better one and squeezed up the inside of the Mercedes into turn one.
"With Mercedes and Red Bull motivated by different reasons in 2021, both teams have adopted two different approaches"
Hamilton drove wheel-to-wheel on the outside of Verstappen around turn one, but as the pair came to the inside apex of turn two, Hamilton was pushed across some big kerbs as Verstappen continued to drive the racing line, conceding no space to Hamilton. To avoid colliding with Verstappen, Hamilton was forced to yield track position by aborting across the kerbs. It was hard but fair racing. Nevertheless, his front wing was damaged by the excursion, hindering his race pace.
Mercedes later revealed that the incident cost Hamilton six tenths of a second per lap. Furthermore, following the escapade, someone at Mercedes disclosed that Hamilton had said "I’m not going to let him (Verstappen) do that again". It was an incident that raised the stakes on track between the championship contenders. The remark was a signal that Hamilton would not be so tolerant and accommodating in similar racing scenarios that happen.
With such a radical overhaul of the technical regulations in 2022 that’s hoped to improving racing, Mercedes have only introduced modest upgrades to the W12 in 2021. The world champions don't want to waste considerable resource on regulations that are soon to be redundant. This is in contrast to Red Bull who, as benefactors of the favourable adjustments to the technical regulations for 2021, have maybe been lured into extensively developing the RB16B car at the prospect of winning both driver and constructor titles.
Minor updates aside, Mercedes have instead focused on extracting performance from the chassis and engine package that they have already got through set-up optimisation. Red Bull by comparison have aimed to add much more performance via large downforce upgrades. With Mercedes and Red Bull motivated by different reasons in 2021, both teams have adopted different approaches. Overall, Red Bull appear to have had a pace advantage over Mercedes so far.
This wasn’t quite the case at the British Grand Prix though. With both teams closely matched, the Silverstone circuit staged one of the most of dramatic moments of the season that could define the title fight. For one driver, it resulted in a big crash, and for the other a sensational victory. It was a flashpoint that took tensions between Hamilton and Verstappen and Mercedes and Red Bull to another level. And the incident itself wasn’t unsurprising or unexpected given the closeness of the racing, and given that Hamilton wasn't going to continue conceding to Verstappen.
The scene was set with Hamilton starting Sunday’s race from second on the grid after Verstappen won the first ever sprint race that took place on Saturday, granting him pole position. Hamilton had originally claimed pole position on Friday for the sprint race, but lost out in securing that grid slot after a bad start. For the main race on Sunday though, Hamilton got a significantly better start than Verstappen. What followed was half a lap of intense, hard racing.
The pair drove side-by-side through turn one with Hamilton on the offensive, putting Verstappen on the defensive through turns two and three. As the pair exited turn four, Hamilton got a better drive and slipstreamed Verstappen onto the Wellington straight. Hamilton was faster and forced Verstappen to defend, and was briefly ahead for a moment. As they went into Brooklands, Verstappen had the inside line and broke late enough to just about retain the race lead.
But Hamilton was about to set up his next attempt. He took a faster line through Luffield, and slipstreamed Verstappen through Woodcote. With Hamilton closing in fast, Verstappen moved across to defend his position as they approached Copse Corner. Hamilton initially dummied going around the outside, before switching to the inside where Verstappen had left a car widths gap.
"The crash Verstappen endured was brutal, and the fact that it was triggered by Hamilton at the British Grand Prix would likely have made it a humiliating experience"
As Hamilton drew alongside, the entry angle of Copse opened up. Verstappen and Hamilton both turned into the 180mph corner. Hamilton entered the corner at a tight angle, Verstappen entered at the racing angle. Neither compromised, and there was contact. The front left wheel of Hamilton’s Mercedes tagged the rear right wheel of Verstappen’s Red Bull. The collision spun Verstappen around, sending him skidding off the track, then skating across the gravel trap and into a big crash in the tyre barrier.
Stewards ruled that Hamilton was "predominantly at fault" for the collision, thus gave him a ten second penalty. Despite that though, Hamilton still managed to overcome the clash with Verstappen and the consequences to extend his record win rate at the British Grand Prix to eight. Notwithstanding the steward’s decision, the driver at fault for causing the collision became a divisive topic of discussion, which inevitably became partisan between Hamilton and Verstappen fans.
Taking that into account, and there’s still added context to consider. For Hamilton to be in with the strongest chance of winning the race, he needed to overtake Verstappen on the first lap. The British Grand Prix is Hamilton’s home race. There’s no other race on the calendar where he would have bigger support. With a partisan crowd expecting Hamilton to win, if he ever needed extra motivation and determination to deliver the result that the crowd came to see, it would have been for the fans.
These factors combined could explain why Hamilton was very aggressive in his first lap attack against Verstappen. At this point in the season, Hamilton was 33 points behind in the standings, so he was at liberty to risk more in wheel-to-wheel racing, as Verstappen had more to lose. Hamilton needed to turn the tables on Verstappen, and put him in a position to back down and concede to avoid a collision. Yet when that scenario came about, Verstappen didn’t yield. He races like a bull in a china shop to the detriment of himself.
My view of Hamilton and Verstappen colliding at the British Grand Prix – it takes two to tango, it was a racing incident. The manner in which Verstappen reacted to the incident in the aftermath too also revealed his emotional immaturity. The crash Verstappen endured was brutal, and the fact that it was triggered by Hamilton at the British Grand Prix would likely have made it a humiliating experience. It undoubtedly punctured his ego. Whatever Verstappen felt, Hamilton had sent a clear memo.
This just adds further intrigue to the spectacle of the championship fight, it’s box office stuff. Yet with the small weaknesses Verstappen has shown, I think Hamilton is the stronger driver right now. His composure gives him an edge. It’s the reason why I stand by my predictions I made in my season preview; I think Hamilton and Mercedes will prevail. It will be a tough struggle though, and they will lose some battles. But they will win the war. Only time will tell if I’m right, or wrong!
Photos: Formula 1 Media
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