‘Max [Verstappen] got into his head’: Christian Horner feels the Dutchman’s performances ‘rattled’ Lewis Hamilton

Last year’s title battle and this year’s title ‘battle’ could not be more different. Even at the times when Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were close in the championship, they seemed to be ultimately respectful in their racing, without even a shred of contact. The two were tussling like bulls in Bahrain, but they kept it clean.

On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen came together on several occasions last year, most notably in Monza and Silverstone. Perhaps it was the intensity of the fight between the two that led to such incidents. Tensions grew as the season went on, and the title fight came to a head in Abu Dhabi, the conclusion of which had its own repercussions.

However, Christian Horner believes that the style of racing between Leclerc-Verstappen is also different than it was with Lewis Hamilton, believing that the former pair have more mutual respect between them, as Horner said on the Beyond the Grid podcast: “You know, there’s a difference, there’s perhaps different respect with Charles. They raced each other since [being] kids, and there was mutual respect.”

Also Read: “There was an opportunity…”: Christian Horner hints at some regret as Red Bull let Oscar Piastri through their fingers

Christian Horner: ‘Hamilton had everything to lose, Verstappen had nothing to lose’

Christian Horner feels that there was not much mutual respect from Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, which showed on track, as tensions often boiled over, in a variety of places: “I’ve never once ever heard Lewis recognise Max’s ability. And so of course, there was just a bit more needle to it and you could feel that, and you could sense that between those two drivers.”

The ‘battle’ was not limited to the track, there were often tensions boiling over not only between the drivers in the media, or even between the teams themselves. Horner also thinks that along with the on-track battle, there was a psychological battle between the drivers, and when asked if the two got into each other’s heads, he said:

“I think arguably, maybe more so in Lewis’ head. Because he’s the seven-time World Champion that has everything to lose, Max is the young kid that’s taking the risks, that’s throwing everything at it and got nothing to lose. Some of his overtaking last year was stunning and you felt that started to rattle Lewis, I think.”

A close title battle is always incredibly emotional, and that was the case for Verstappen and Hamilton, but Horner feels that the Briton was likely more affected because he had more to lose than Verstappen did.

Also Read: ‘Massive ask’: Christian Horner casts doubts on Max Verstappen’s ability to beat Sebastian Vettel’s record with Red Bull

Also Read: “I can only wish to inflict that amount of pain on Toto over the next eight years” – Christian Horner’s light-hearted take on ending Mercedes’ domination

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