Lewis Hamilton ‘the king’ of F1 as Max Verstappen tactics explained

Max Verstappen may be a back-to-back champion in Formula 1, but the Red Bull ace still shows signs that Lewis Hamilton holds a special place in his psyche. Direct contests between the nemeses were few and far between throughout a dismal 2022 for Mercedes, which saw Verstappen adapt a different approach when facing his more recent rivals.

That’s the view of driver-turned-pundit Karun Chandhok, who went so far as to suggest Hamilton remains “the king” despite finishing a career-worst sixth this past season. And fans might enjoy a resurgence of that rivalry with Red Bull’s No. 1 driver, depending on the changes both teams can make ahead of the 2023 campaign.

“Lewis is the king of the castle [and] has been for this generation,” said Sky Sports F1 analyst Chandhok in his review of the 2022 season. “Max had to assert himself—he felt, I should say—that he had to assert himself against Lewis and knock Lewis off the throne.

“Whereas, he sees George [Russell], Charles [Leclerc], Carlos [Sainz] as his peers. He’s not trying to knock them off the throne, which is why I think he races them differently.”

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Verstappen won 15 of 22 races during 2022 and finished 146 points clear of the competition without Hamilton to keep him in range. Ferrari’s Leclerc came closest to matching that record with just three victories for the year, while Hamilton failed to win a race for the first time in 16 seasons.

There is an opportunity for Mercedes to close the margins once more, however, provided they can solve their design flaws, with Russell showing promise after sealing his first race win in Brazil. Red Bull will also suffer as a result of their 10 per cent penalty in development time (namely fewer runs in the wind tunnel) after being found to have breached the budget cap.

Former Hispania and Lotus driver Chandhok went on to cite this season’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as a “fantastic example” of Verstappen’s different mindset when Hamilton isn’t his main obstacle. Verstappen star finished 22 seconds behind the Englishman at Jeddah in 2021, whereas Leclerc came in just half a second behind the Dutch victor this year.

After completing one of the most dominant championship wins in recent F1 memory, it will be of huge interest to see how Verstappen comes out fighting in his bid for a third straight title. Or perhaps more pertinently, whether anyone other than Hamilton can muster a realistic challenge for first if the seven-time champion doesn’t enjoy an immediate return to the top.

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