© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Max Verstappen seems to be trying his hand at some mind games, while he comments on the possibility of George Russell driving for Mercedes in 2022.
The rumour mill says it is almost certain that George Russell will replace Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate in 2022.
At the Dutch Grand Prix Thursday press conference Max Verstappen was asked how that move would change the dynamic at Mercedes.
His answer can only be described as an attempt to play mind games with his title rival.
“If he joins then for sure he will make it very difficult for Lewis,” Verstappen said.
“He jumped into the car in Bahrain [the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix], and basically he was already from lap one making it very difficult for Valtteri.
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“So you can only imagine the more experience you gain in that car, and the more you get accustomed within the team, naturally you’re going to be becoming faster.
“When you do your first race, you are guided by the team about set-up direction, because you just don’t know what to do really, initially, with the car.
“Even though of course F1 cars look pretty similar, the way of setting them up can be very different.
“So yeah, for sure, I’m very confident. Already what you could see, the performance he did in Spa was really good.
“Of course they set up the car a bit more for wet conditions, but nevertheless, to do that in a Williams was very impressive.
“I do expect him to do very well if he gets that seat,” concluded the Dutch driver.
