Verstappen advantage in title race? 'He hasn't had a bad weekend yet'

"Right now, it’s hard to look past Verstappen. The pace of the Red Bull in Belgium, Zandvoort and Monza, followed by Verstappen’s climb from the back of the grid to second in Russia, suggested the Dutchman was going to pull away. But then Turkey happened, where Mercedes — led by Valtteri Bottas — was so much quicker and it was game on again", Medland begins in his column.

According to the journalist Verstappen hasn't had a bad weekend yet this season. The times the Dutchman didn't manage to finish in the top two were all down to incidents. "I’m not saying he hasn’t made mistakes, but he has finished either first or second in every single race except for Azerbaijan (where he retired after late puncture when leading), Silverstone (collision with Hamilton), Hungary (hit by Bottas) and Monza (collision with Hamilton). There has always been a clear incident to prevent another top two score."

Hamilton has more experience

Medland sees that Hamilton has had more tough weekends, such as in Monaco and Baku. In Belgium, George Russell even beat him in qualifying.
"They’re absolutely tiny margins, but Verstappen has put himself on the right side of them when it’s in his control. The question is, will he still be able to do so as the championship looms into view?"

Hamilton, however, has more experience of a title fight, the Briton having won seven times before. "He has dealt with tense and dramatic title battles from his very first season in F1 and has experience of fighting both those inside his own team and those in another car. As calm and impressive as Verstappen has been for the majority of this season, he still is entering unknown territory."