Coulthard: Drivers will think twice about overtaking Max

      There is less than a week left before the start of the new season, and these days the championship teams are either on their way to Australia or preparing to go there. But some representatives of the Formula 1 world are already there, including David Coulthard, who took part in the Race of Champions in Sydney on the first weekend of March.

      In the RacingNews365 podcast, the Scot shared some of his predictions, in particular, he suggested that racers would now "think twice" before trying to attack Max Verstappen.

      David Coulthard: "Max has proven himself to be a well-rounded racer. He sets his own standards in Formula 1. At the same time, I am not detracting from the merits of Lewis Hamilton, he is a seven-time world champion. But over the past few seasons, Max has earned that right. The drivers will now think twice before overtaking him."

      As Coulthard stressed, it's not that they are afraid to race with him, but they will need to take some kind of special approach: "It's the same as when I had the opportunity, I acted differently against Michael Schumacher, not like I did against Mika Hakkinen, Jean Alesi or other guys who were easier to compete with on the track.

      It was much more difficult to race with Michael, as he was distinguished by his uncompromising fighting style. But it just had to be taken into account when planning your actions if you got into a dispute with him over a certain section of the highway."

      One of Verstappen's main rivals until recently was Lewis Hamilton, who has now become a Ferrari driver and is starting a new chapter in his career.

      David praised the seven–time world champion's fighting style: "Lewis is a wonderful racer, including because there is practically nothing ambiguous about his actions on the track. For a long time, he rarely became a participant in any incidents or accidents.

      Of course, there were a few such episodes with Max, but the bulk of Hamilton's career was surprisingly clean. You can say that it became something of his calling card, he won and achieved success that way."