Hamilton or Verstappen man to beat in Austria? "Strong start is important"

"It's important that he starts the season strongly when he arrives in Austria," says Johnny Herbert about Lewis Hamilton's chances this year. "It's a track he hasn't liked in the last couple of years. Four years ago he won there, but after that he was fourth, fifth and even dropped out once. Max Verstappen is the man who is doing very well there at the moment".

According to Herbert everyone will still be looking at Mercedes and Hamilton when it comes to winning his seventh world title, but Red Bull Racing with Max Verstappen does pose a danger. Herbert is less convinced whether Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas could pose a similar threat.

"Bottas needs to become more constant. We saw last year that he started the season very well, but in the end he dropped back. While Hamilton is constantly increasing the pressure, both on himself and on his teammate. If Bottas wants to put Hamilton under pressure, he will have to improve, because that hasn't happened so far".