Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s battle during the 2021 Formula 1 season was one of the most intense we’ve witnessed in modern sport.
The drama of their last-lap shootout in Abu Dhabi is one of the most controversial incidents in F1 history and ended with the Dutchman winning his first championship.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Verstappen’s old trainer Bradley Scanes was talking about the one change they made in the run-up to that fateful evening in the United Arab Emirates.
Max Verstappen change that led to 2021 triumph over Lewis Hamilton
Given the contrasting fortunes since that race in Abu Dhabi three years ago, it’s hard to believe that Red Bull and Mercedes were so closely matched in 2021.
Both drivers headed into that race knowing a race win would guarantee the title which would have been hugely significant to both drivers.
If Lewis Hamilton had crossed the line first, he would have surpassed Michael Schumacher’s seven world titles and been the undisputed most successful driver in the sport’s history.
Max Verstappen had already proven he was one of the quickest drivers in recent times and was looking for his first championship to prove that he deserved to be in that conversation.
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The margins at that level of sport are incredibly small and every driver is looking to find any tiny advantage they can over their rivals.
Scanes has now shared the small change he and Verstappen made in the run-up to the final races of the 2021 season as they looked to defeat Hamilton.
It’s impossible to know if that made the difference but it certainly can’t be discounted…
Max Verstappen unstoppable after 2021 triumph
Speaking about how the Dutchman used to prepare for races, Scanes said: “We still approached every race in the same way, we kept our habits, kept our routine, I think so important because as soon as you starting changing things, you start to change the dynamic of the thought processes and the performance KPIs.
“I think the only thing we changed towards the end was the travel and logistics a little bit.
“So, rather than heading home and changing time zones and having multiple flights, we ended up staying out and taking some time, taking some days off to completely remove ourselves from what F1 was, what travel was just to rest.
“It was tense, it was super, super tense. You could feel it in the paddock, you could feel it everywhere and it was almost a hatred building between Red Bull and Mercedes.”
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Lewis Hamilton making 2025 change in hope of battling Red Bull again
As mentioned above, that race in Abu Dhabi appeared to be a turning point for Verstappen and Hamilton.
It’s been a big surprise every time Verstappen hasn’t been standing on the top step of the podium since that race given the dominance of the RB18, RB19 and now RB20.
Hamilton – on the other hand – hasn’t won a race since that season and will be heading to Ferrari in 2025 to try and help him secure that eighth title.
Verstappen changing his travel patterns in 2021 would have certainly helped him beat Hamilton that season as he would have been much fresher going into the final Grand Prix.
Although the two drivers are still very close in terms of raw speed, there’s now a huge difference in the cars they’re driving.
Plenty of fans would love to see them battling wheel-to-wheel once again, but that doesn’t seem likely until he’s racing in red next year.
The post ‘The only thing’: Max Verstappen’s trainer now shares the one change he made to beat Lewis Hamilton in 2021 appeared first on F1 Oversteer.