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Former F1 driver Stefan Johansson praises Lewis Hamilton’s character and says Max Verstappen “has taken the Senna playbook and the Schumacher playbook to a whole new level”.
Former F1 driver Stefan Johansson, who has driven for Ferrari, McLaren, Tyrell and other teams, praises Lewis Hamilton’s conduct before, during and after the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi – a race that saw Max Verstappen take the race win and the world title, under controversial circumstances.
“The way Lewis drove the last four races, basically not putting a foot out of line and maximizing every situation, including having the discipline and patience to avoid any altercations with Max, of which there was obviously plenty of opportunity to do so, and then basically have the title taken away from him on the very last lap is gut wrenching,” Johansson wrote on his blog.
“The way he handled it in the aftermath is even more impressive and I think it shows his real character both in and out of the car.
“I read this quote many years ago and I always kept it to remind myself at times when things may not have gone the way I felt was fair at the time: ‘Sports do not build character, they reveal it’.
“I think the last four races absolutely highlighted this. Like I have mentioned many times in the past, win or lose, I really admire the way Lewis has brought the purity and fairness but hard racing back.
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“I just hope that more of the new generation of drivers coming up will try to emulate that style of driving, it’s a lot harder to be successful doing it the right way rather than driving dirty.
“Blocking is easy and pushing someone off the track is easy, anyone can do that.”
Johansson then proceeded to criticise the way Max Verstappen conducts himself on the track.
“The issue we have right now on track is that Max has taken the Senna playbook and the Schumacher playbook to a whole new level.
“Generally, I think there’s a good code of conduct between the drivers. Most of the current crop of the new generation of drivers are racing very clean but hard, there’s been some really great battles this year but they’re not at the front and therefore it goes un-noticed for the most part. No one cares about the guys in fifth or sixth place.
“I don’t have a lot of optimism for the changes from the officials. Every year decisions about driving standards and enforcement are getting worse, more and more muddy with more grey areas.
“If Max can get away with what he’s gotten away with in certain cases this year, then like Leclerc said, ‘Ok, fine. If that’s how we’re going to race, then that’s how we have to race’,” the Swede concluded.
