'Verstappen doesn't see Leclerc as a threat the same way he sees Hamilton'

Now that the winter break has officially started, it is time to look back at the 2022 season. The contact between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the Brazilian Grand Prix is a much-discussed incident. Jack Aitken, Williams reserve driver, thinks the Red Bull Racing driver sees Hamilton as a bigger threat than 2022 title rival Charles Leclerc.

After a controversial title fight between Verstappen and Hamilton in 2021, where the two rivals clashed several times on the track, the new season went quietly between the drivers. Due to Mercedes' poor start, Hamilton did not get close to Verstappen for almost the whole year.

In the closing stages of the season, the German team managed to close the gap towards the top, so we were again treated to battles between the old rivals. At Interlagos, however, things went wrong again and Hamilton and Verstappen collided when the Dutchman wanted to overtake his rival. The seven-time world champion was able to continue his way, while Verstappen had to dive into the pit lane with damage to his front wing.

Hamilton and Verstappen give each other no space

"They can’t give an inch to each other. As soon as one gives an inch it’s such a win in the psychological battle, isn’t it?”, the driver says in the Chequered Flag podcast from the BBC. According to Aitken, such a fierce rivalry often arises because of a bigger fight or a battle for the title. Although the two drivers were no longer fighting each other for the title in 2022, they still cannot get along.

"When you’re up against that guy, you know every time you see them on track you cannot give this guy anything. You just have to win every time, every corner, every time you go side by side, because it’s such a blow when you don’t."

Hamilton a bigger threat to Verstappen

In 2022, the title fight was between Verstappen and Leclerc, but the two drivers did not come into contact with each other despite fierce battles in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, among others. "I think he is a little bit more gentle with Leclerc. Gentle is probably over-egging it a little bit, he’s still going for it, but they don’t collide. Respectful because I don’t think he sees Leclerc as a threat in the same way that he sees Hamilton", Aitken ends.