Since the time Lewis Hamilton has sat in a Ferrari, he longs for the podium visits that he’s used to. Though the spirits were high initially, his first year with Scuderia now comes to a close without a win so far. And amidst these hard times, a touch of sympathy arrived from Max Verstappen, his long-time rival.

Verstappen’s unfiltered take on Hamilton’s struggling year

“If you don’t feel safe or comfortable within the team dynamics, you can’t be yourself, and that has consequences.”

Max Verstappen said this about Lewis Hamilton, his fierce rival from the 2021 days. Hamilton has indeed struggled with the performance of the Ferrari car since joining the team. There have been reports of balance issues, braking problems, and unpredictable handling that have made many of his races difficult.

“He left a team that was like his second family at Mercedes, and where he built such a career. ” Verstappen added, “Everyone benefited from that, Mercedes and Lewis, and then it’s not easy to take a completely different path, while you also have to compete against someone (Charles Leclerc, ed.) who has been there for a while. That’s very difficult.”

Verstappen explained the impact and position of Mercedes in Hamilton’s career and life, and how the latter has been finding it tricky to adjust to Ferrari after leaving Mercedes, which hasn’t yet led to consistent good results or title chances. Apart from that, Verstappen pointed out another concern.

“His age is also not working in his favor. At that age, you don’t get faster. You don’t necessarily get slower, but certainly not faster, while Charles is still improving, so that doesn’t help him either.”

Hamilton turns 41 in January next year. Verstappen’s words make sense that it certainly won’t get better by age, even if it doesn’t get worse. Between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the latter finished higher sixteen times this year in a Grand Prix race.

Meanwhile, Hamilton isn’t discouraged by this a lot, as he’s optimistic about the current situation.

“I don’t regret the decision I’ve made joining the team. I know it takes time to build and grow within an organisation and (I) expected that,” he said.

Either way, a raw take like this coming from Verstappen says a lot about their evolved dynamic, too. It shows they’ve come a long way since 2021, when that rivalry was the hottest. Today, things have cooled down. Yes, they’re still not friends, but they have immense respect for each other, and Verstappen’s empathy for Hamilton just proves that.

On the other hand, Verstappen’s more positive results, though tempered by recent setbacks, have kept him close in the title chase. But in his way stands Lando Norris, the guy to beat. Recently, Verstappen stirred things when he claimed that he would have won the championship much earlier if he were driving the McLaren. And now, Norris hits back.

Lando Norris hits back at Max Verstappen

“We wouldn’t be talking about a championship. It would already have been won, easily” — This is exactly what Verstappen had started the controversy with.

Norris, in response, kicked off by showing respect to Verstappen’s legacy, saying, “Max is very welcome to say everything he wants. He kind of earned the right. He’s won four world championships. I have a lot of respect.”

Then, he got down to business.

“Max generally has a good clue about a lot of things, but there’s also a lot of things he doesn’t have much of a clue about.” He added, “But it’s also Red Bull’s way of going about things, it’s his kind of aggressive nature and just talking nonsense a lot of the time.”

In the end, he kept his cool, and spoke the wiser words, “It depends if you want to listen to it… or do what we do as a team, which is just kind of keep our heads down, keep focused. Maybe he would have done, but he hasn’t so far, and he keeps trying”.

McLaren’s constructors’ title, secured amid Red Bull’s struggles, sees Norris and Piastri in top form. Verstappen’s late podium finishes in Mexico and Brazil keep the pressure on. With Qatar’s high-speed Lusail circuit favoring Red Bull’s aero and a chaotic sprint format, the upcoming races promise thrilling drama as the title hangs by a thread.