Palmer fears: 'That will be demoralising for Verstappen'

Jolyon Palmer thinks Max Verstappen will have to come up with something to keep Lewis Hamilton from winning an eighth world title. The former Formula 1 driver thinks the Spanish Grand Prix was a mental shock for the 23-year-old Dutchman and Red Bull Racing.

"It will be how the Spanish Grand Prix unfolded, that will be demoralising for Verstappen," Palmer thinks in the Chequered Flag podcast of the BBC. The Limburger drove the entire race in the lead at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but he could never really pull away. "He could see it in the mirrors that Hamilton was able to stay so close for so long, do whatever he wanted on strategy and basically win convincingly in the end."

Defeat comes hard on

The Mercedes driver eventually won convincingly. It caused frustration for Verstappen, although there was also resignation at the number two of the world championship. The RB16B was simply slower than the Mercedes car. As a result, Hamilton was able to take his third win of the year, while Verstappen's tally remains at one.

"That's tough for Verstappen, who has been toe-to-toe with Hamilton the whole time. This one I think was a bit harder to take. When you lead the race for so long, fundamentally not winning it, is tough," said Palmer, who argues that Mercedes are incredibly good at keeping up with other cars on the tarmac. The former Renault driver thinks the German formation has an advantage over Red Bull with its race pace on Sunday.