"Hamilton hasn’t faced a threat to his crown like this for years"

Max Verstappen proudly led the world championship and was also the first Dutchman ever to do so, but now he is enjoying a well-deserved holiday, he is facing a gap in the form of Lewis Hamilton. Earlier we reported about F1-journalists discussing whether the lead of Hamilton is deserved at this moment.

Max deserves the lead

At F1.com a number of other well-known press people have now put their money where their mouth is on this proposition. Verstappen can count on at least some support here. Chris Medland, for example, responds to the question of whether Hamilton's lead is deserved: "No. But that's no criticism of Lewis, it's just due to the fact that Verstappen saw 25 points disappear with his tyre failure in Baku, and was hit by a car in Budapest. It should be very close, but Max deserves to be in the lead based on the balance so far."

Threat to the crown

Lawrence Barretto, for his part, says: "I'm not sure Lewis deserves it, but at least he's dragged in the lead. Hamilton hasn't had a threat to his crown like this for years, so he needs to take himself to the next level and grind out results in a car that hasn't been the best for much of the season."

Greg Stuart reveals, " Lewis hasn't really had any serious problems this year that he hasn't caused himself. So I would say on balance, probably not, but that's not how F1 works." Samarth Kanal concludes, "I don't know about earning, but Hamilton has done everything he can to make sure he fights for the title and, crucially, you make your own luck."