Hughes: "I think Verstappen is doing a little better than Hamilton so far".

For the first time in several years, the Formula 1 title fight is really exciting again in 2021. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are barely ahead of each other in terms of their level of performance and their points haul. Mark Hughes is thrilled by the title fight so far this year. In the podcast, The Race, he looks back at the first six races of both drivers.

Neither of them have been flawless so far this year, however, Hughes does see a difference between the mistakes Hamilton has made and the moments that have happened to Verstappen so far.

"Hamilton made two big mistakes in Imola and Baku, Verstappen only made small mistakes in Bahrain, Portugal and in free practice in Baku. It's hard to say if these mistakes were caused by pressure. All drivers push and make mistakes from time to time."

Verstappen the rightful leader

Hughes also knows that it is difficult to compare the mistakes of different drivers. "It's often not comparable. Lewis, for example, had to really push in Baku, where the Mercedes wasn't that good. Max did less of that, but his car was clearly the best that weekend." Hughes therefore believes that with the Dutchman, Formula 1 has a justified leader so far.

"I think Verstappen is doing just a little bit better than Hamilton so far. But Lewis has the best performance to his name, namely in Bahrain. He wasn't actually supposed to win there. In any case, the level of both so far this season is tremendously high." Starting next weekend, Formula 1 will embark on a triple header in France and Austria. Verstappen starts this triple header with a lead of four points.