‘Lucky’ Lewis Hamilton Didn’t Pay a ‘Bigger Price’ for Imola Mistake: Horner

The title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is touted to go down to the wire. So, they will look to find even the slightest of gains to get an edge over the other. Hence, psychological welfare has begun after the fourth round in Barcelona.

First, Hamilton took a jibe at his Dutch rival for his errors. He believed that Mercedes shouldn’t “continue to rely on mistakes from others.”  And now Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner has hit back.

Not only does he believe that “Max will do his talking on the track,” but he also thinks that the lady luck has been shining brightly on Hamilton since his mistakes haven’t cost him as dearly as Max.

“Lewis has demonstrated he’s capable of, excuse my French, dropping a b—— occasionally. He’s capable of making a significant mistake as we saw in Imola, and he just got very lucky that he wasn’t a lap down and didn’t pay a bigger price for it,” Horner told ESPN.

There are still 19 races to go as part of this record-breaking 23-race F1 calendar. Hence, this season is truly a marathon and not a sprint where the final stage will prove to be the most integral. So, Horner doesn’t see Verstappen‘s errors as title-defining yet.

“Look, they can all make mistakes and we’re at the non-pressured stage of the championship at the moment. As we get to the business end it will count for more.”

Horner believes Max Verstappen’s “youthful bravado” will help him in beating Lewis Hamilton

While Lewis has a ton of experience with close title fights, Max has none. So, it’s an area where the Briton clearly holds an advantage over the young title challenger as he’s handled this pressure before. But, according to Horner, Max’s courageous persona will also help him.

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“I think he’s got that youthful bravado; he’s got nothing to lose. Every big pressure point in his career I’ve seen him deal with previously, he’s stepped up to the plate tremendously well. I’ve got no doubt he’ll be able to deal with it should the opportunity come,” said Horner.

As the season moves to Monaco, let’s see who can get their noses ahead this time.