Four races have gone by this F1 season, and the hot topics have largely persisted around two of the championship title contenders – Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Subsequently, the debate over who the better driver is of the two has been gaining steam as well. And the latest to join the debate is Fernando Alonso.
The ex-McLaren driver claimed that Verstappen is the best driver on the grid at the moment, solely because of his aggression. However, he also felt that the Dutchman’s “extreme driving style” could leave him prone to mistakes.
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Nevertheless, this is quite an interesting take considering Hamilton has just managed to churn out his best-ever start to an F1 season at the age of 36, securing three wins out of four races.
What’s more, the Spaniard was amongst the list of drivers who faced the wrath of Hamilton while racing alongside him as teammates.
Hence, he is quite aware of the damage the Mercedes driver could cause to his rivals, with his rivalry dating back to 2007. Despite possessing such history with Hamilton, Alonso managed to see something far more deadly in Verstappen that could potentially end the Briton’s run of form.
The aggression of Max Verstappen is exciting for the fans: Alonso
As reported by RacingNews365, the Spaniard revealed that the reason behind preferring the Dutchman over the seven-time world champion is that the former has always remained on the attack mode over a race, constantly looking ahead even if he had an assured podium in hand.
Hence, it is the aggressive approaches that have gained Verstappen respect from the F1 fans around the world.
“For me, Max Verstappen is currently the best,” he said. “He’s a driver that I love to see. He’s always in attack mode. If he’s third and catching up on second, then you know he’s not going to stay there.
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“You know that he’ll try it at some point. Of course, this extreme driving style sometimes provokes mistakes. But that’s exciting for the fans,” Alonso added.
Verstappen has evidently upped his consistency this year, making minimal to no mistakes. And that has kept him in the game against Hamilton despite finishing behind him on three out of four occasions. So, with 19 more races left in hand, the end result could go either way.
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But will Alonso’s words come alive? Can Verstappen prove to be the best driver on the current grid by defeating the ever-dominant Hamilton? Well, let’s wait and watch how the future unfolds.
Read More: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen “Weren’t Looking at Each Other” After Spanish GP