Sky Sports pundits: 'Verstappen drove differently against Hamilton'

David Croft and Karun Chandhok did see a different Max Verstappen in 2022 than had been the case in 2021. According to the Sky Sports promoters, this was mainly because of the different opponents this season.

After an eventful 2021 Formula 1 season, the reigning world champion's 2022 season started disastrously. Verstappen retired from two of the first three races. A blow to the championship, but the Dutchman would recover all that. According to Croft, that was also where you saw a change in the Red Bull driver.

''Max relaxed the more the car got reliable, the more he knew he was in a machine he didn't have to push as hard in 2021. But he also raced differently against his championship challenger here than he did in 2021, which I think helped Max as well,'' said the commentator in the Review Show by Sky Sports.

According to Chandhok, that change in racing style has a logical explanation. ''Lewis is the king of the castle and he has been this generation. Max felt that he had to assert himself against Lewis, knock him off his throne. Whereas he sees Charles, George [Russell], Carlos [Sainz] as his peers and that's why he races them differently.''

In 2023, the battle will start all over again, with Ferrari and Mercedes hoping to be closer to Red Bull Racing to make things really difficult for Verstappen. That ultimately failed in 2022, leaving the Dutchman with the world title already in Japan.