Nico Rosberg thinks that Lewis Hamilton is still favourite to claim an eighth Formula 1 world championship in 2021, but claimed that Max Verstappen and Red Bull are closer than ever before.
Red Bull enjoyed a really impressive run in pre-season testing, while Mercedes struggled, with James Vowles admitting last week that Red Bull are ahead of them on performance.
Rosberg, who was Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes between 2013 and 2016, was clearly impressed by Red Bull’s testing for and thinks this is as close a title battle that Formula 1 has seen in “many years”.
Asked who he was favouring to win the 2021 title, Rosberg told Sky Sports F1: “It still has to go on Lewis because nobody can fathom someone actually beating Lewis throughout the entire season on points. So, the money would still have to go to Lewis.
“But Max Verstappen, in particular, is as close as ever before in pre-season in terms of the odds to beat Lewis to the championship.
“I don’t think anyone’s been that close for many, many years.”
Jenson Button, who also drove alongside Hamilton, said that a battle between the two drivers is exactly what F1 needs, and predicted that Verstappen would really “take the fight” to the seven-time champion.
“It’s exactly what we want, to have Lewis up against Max,” Button added.
“They are both extraordinary drivers.
“Bahrain is an unusual circuit and it was very windy but if the downforce is working at high yaw that is fantastic because that was a real weakness for Red Bull in 2020. So, if they have that around Bahrain it’s going to work everywhere. It’s really exciting. Max, as always, is giving it his all, is at the top of his game, and I think he’s really going to take the fight to Lewis.
“Team-mates fighting for a championship is great but when it’s drivers from different teams, it’s the best. It’s exactly what Formula 1 needs right now.”