On the eve of the season-opener, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris fear the Red Bull driver’s dominance is only beginning
Max Verstappen, confident and at ease, his innate ability fused with judgment and maturity, could not enter the new season in better form. With a Red Bull car that looks formidable it might be considered that the only real threat to Verstappen is Verstappen himself, but of such a fragility there is no sign. Indeed it is dismissed by the people that matter in the paddock – the drivers themselves.
As Formula One’s defending world champion opens his challenge to take a third consecutive title in Bahrain this weekend there is an overwhelming sense that he will not exhibit one iota of weakness, overconfidence or lack of focus because of his remarkable success last year. If anything the men who must compete against him warn he is only growing stronger, among them Lewis Hamilton, well-placed to recognise a champion’s traits.