Former World champion Nico Rosberg has suggested that Max Verstappen is giving Lewis Hamilton a taste of his own medicine after the Dutchman’s aggressive driving style drew criticism during a tense title battle in 2021.
Hamilton and Rosberg spent four seasons together with the Silver Arrows, forming one of the most successful but fractious partnerships in the sport’s recent history.
F1 fans were treated to a healthy dose of wheel-to-wheel action last season, with Hamilton and Verstappen both vying for a closely-contested world title.
Max Verstappen calls Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff ‘harsh’
F1 fans were treated to a healthy dose of wheel-to-wheel action last season, with Hamilton and Verstappen both vying for a closely-contested world title
It came to a controversial end in Abu Dhabi when the Red Bull man claimed victory on the final lap, but the intense nature of the battle between the pair became clear long before that.
At Imola, in just the second race of the season, Verstappen got off to a fast start and ran Hamilton wide on the opening lap, forcing him over the kerb which caused damage to his Mercedes.
The 24-year-old then powered on to win the Grand Prix, as the Brit crossed the line in second.
It was an incident which put Verstappen’s aggressive driving style on full display, but Rosberg suggested that Hamilton is no stranger to such antics either.
“Max definitely started the season very aggressively,” he told Sky Sports.
“Barging Lewis out in Imola, [he did it] in a way that Lewis used to do to me
“It’s one of Lewis’ great skills, and here he has an opponent doing to him what he usually does to others.
