04 April 2023 , 21:54
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Ted Kravitz noted how the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen has "flipped" with the Brit urged to be more "aggressive" when battling with his Formula 1 rival.
For many years, Mercedes were the dominant force in the sport. Hamilton won six of his seven world titles with the Silver Arrows between 2014 and 2020, before his blockbuster battle against Verstappen ended in heartbreak and controversy at the climax of the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Since then, Red Bull have established themselves as top dog on the grid, winning both championships last year with ease. And they are threatening to do so again this season, having already established a very healthy lead at the top of the standings after just three races.
Verstappen and Sergio Perez have a car at their disposal which is in a league of its own in terms of performance on track. Whole the Dutchman's victory at the Australian Grand Prix was not as emphatic as their successes in Bahrain and Jeddah, Kravitz felt it was still "crucial" and "as much of an achievement as his wins by 30 seconds".
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, he said: "There were lots of things out there to trip him up and to make the tantalising Melbourne win, that has been denied him for so long, actually achievable. There was relief, you could sense, from Red Bull after that they'd done it.
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"Do you remember I spoke to Max on Thursday and I said, 'If I was to offer you second now, would you take it?' And he was like, 'No way – I've had terrible luck here, my best finish has been third. I want that win'.
"Alright, between laps nine and 50 or whatever it was, he was going to get that win no problem. But then at the end there were the little gremlins coming out to steal it away from him. Credit to Max, because he managed to avoid all of them to win."
Lewis Hamilton challenged Max Verstappen in Australia, but to no avail (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)A late standing restart offered Hamilton the opportunity to get the better of Verstappen, as he and team-mate George Russell had done on the first lap. But it wasn't to be as the Dutchman defended the lead well off the line, before the race was neutralised again after several crashes and finished behind the safety car.
After watching Verstappen as the challenger taking on Hamilton in the past, Kravitz couldn't help but note how the roles are now reversed. He added: "What's fascinating to me is, we now have a complete flip of the Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton seasons from 2014 to 2021, when Hamilton has been going for the championship, knowing he has the fastest car and needs to play it safe.
"You had the upstart Verstappen challenging him and wanting to get in there. And now you've got Hamilton challenging Verstappen, saying, 'It's no cares given, I'm out there to take all the risks', putting it back on the defending champion.
"Hamilton knows he's not going to win the championship this year, not unless something really weird happens, so he can go in there and be aggressive with Verstappen, knowing that he is probably going to have to give way."