Lewis Hamilton feels Max Verstappen is still “too aggressive” in his driving style from three years ago judging by what he’s seen from the Dutchman’s title fight with Lando Norris.
The seven-time world champion was involved in a tense title battle with Verstappen during the 2021 season with the pair colliding on several occasions.
After the high-speed incident at the British Grand Prix in 2021, which saw Verstappen fly off into the tyre barrier and taken to hospital, Hamilton accused his rival of being “too aggressive”.
There was another incident between the pair at Monza when Verstappen’s car ended up on top of Hamilton at the opening slow right-left chicane.
And they collided once more at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix towards the end of the season with Verstappen deemed to have ‘braked in a manner which caused a collision’.
Lewis Hamilton feels Max Verstappen hasn’t changed
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Hamilton repeatedly hit out at Verstappen’s aggressive driving style throughout the dramatic championship battle, which ended in controversy in Abu Dhabi.
The 39-year-old has not been able to compete with Verstappen since with Mercedes struggling to build a car capable of challenging the Red Bull.
McLaren have managed to reel in Verstappen this year with Norris locking wheels with the three-time world champion on several occasions.
The last two races have seen both drivers punished for going off the track while going wheel-to-wheel.
Verstappen received plenty of criticism for his driving style during the Mexico Grand Prix while trying to defend from a faster Norris, which resulted in two 10-second penalties.
And Hamilton feels the race was further evidence that Verstappen hasn’t changed from their own battle three years ago.
“All you have to do is go back and listen to some of my radio comments back in the day,” said Hamilton.
“If I was in the battle I could lean in more to it but you have to ask those two [Verstappen and Norris] because they are the ones that it is affecting.
“But I don’t think you are seeing much difference across the years from 2021 until now, it’s pretty much the same.”
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been involved in some tense battles
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Verstappen will be under further scrutiny this weekend if something similar happens with Norris again.
But the Dutchman isn’t fazed by the criticism he’s faced, insisting he doesn’t feel the need ot change anything.
“I just do my thing. I’m a three-time world champion. I think I know what I’m doing,” he said.
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He added: “Some people are just being very annoying and I know who these people are.
“I don’t really pay a lot of attention to them anyway.
“I’ve got to this stage in my career with the right people supporting me and making my own decisions so I think I know what I’m doing.”