Max Verstappen reflects on duel with Lewis Hamilton: Everyone is different in the way they battle

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had one of the most intense championship battles during the 2021 F1 season. Both the drivers and their teams fought relentlessly to stay at the top. It was a thrilling spectacle to witness as both were equally matched and the championship was decided at the very end of the last race in Abu Dhabi.

However, in 2022, Max Verstappen fought Charles Leclerc at the start of the season before taking a massive lead and winning the championship with ease. After receiving the drivers' championship trophy at the FIA prize-giving ceremony, he was asked to compare his fight with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen explained how each driver and championship fight is different, saying:

“Everyone is different in the way they battle, they race, but that’s the beautiful thing about the sport, because if everyone would be the same, I think it’s pretty boring. Yes, you have a lot of good drivers, but if they all act exactly the same it’s not really exciting to watch.”

Furthermore, when asked which championship victory tasted sweeter, Max Verstappen was unable to pick one. He spoke about how the first world title was quite emotional, while the second one was quite enjoyable as well.

He said:

"I mean, they’re both very different, but I couldn’t choose. Because the first one was very emotional, I would not want to swap that out for this year’s. Maybe if I had a third then I can choose. This year has been really, really enjoyable.”

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Max Verstappen compared F1 cars from 2022 and 2021 seasons

After the 2021 F1 season came to an end, the FIA enforced various kinds of new sporting regulations that promoted closer racing. Apart from all the financial changes, the entire aerodynamics of the car designs changed. Hence, the 2022 F1 cars looked worlds apart from the previous generation.

In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, Max Verstappen delved deep into how different 2021 and 2022 F1 cars were. He said:

"Last year's car was more agile because the weight was down. The visibility was a lot better on the front axle. But to be honest, in the high-speed corners, these cars are fine, but in the low-speed, they are a bit lazy. At high-speed, they are quite stable, whereas last year's car was a bit more twitchy, but again in the low-speed, the weight really takes over."

Max Verstappen mentioned how the car was more stable in high-speed sections and slower in the low-speed sections due to the weight increase. Moreover, the changes in the aerodynamics of the car reduced the amount of dirty air behind each car. This allowed the backmarkers to follow other cars more closely.