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Max Verstappen says he doesn’t think Lewis Hamilton will be the man to beat in 2022, but still accuses Mercedes of sandbagging.
At the Bahrain Pre-Season Test Max Verstappen was asked by Sky Germany if he believes Lewis Hamilton will be the man to beat in 2022.
“I don’t think so,” the Dutch driver said.
“Ferrari also look strong this year, at least now in the tests. It’s difficult to judge the others. Some teams still get some upgrades before the first race.”
Asked if he expects a three-way title fight between Red Bull Ferrari and Mercedes, Verstappen didn’t want to speculate.
“It‘s difficult to say. So far, Ferrari look strong. Mercedes will always be there. For us, it looks positive.”
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Since then Lewis came out saying that Mercedes will not be fighting for victories just yet, but Verstappen was quick to accuse the German team of sandbagging.
“They actually always do that. If a team does well at the test they say: ‘oh, we’re not favorites’.
“And then when things do go well, you hear: ‘we turned it around so well in a week, everyone at the factory worked hard…’
“But last season Mercedes was also enormously strong after all,” concluded the Dutch driver.
Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner on the other hand is sure Mercedes will be in the mix for the 2022 championship.
“Mercedes will be a huge factor in this championship, I have no doubt,” the Briton said.
