Ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has expressed surprise over the number of “little incidents” Lewis Hamilton has made in 2021.
The Mercedes driver is currently involved in a title fight with Max Verstappen and trails the Red Bull star by six points with six races remaining this season.
The two have clashed on multiple occasions this year, however Coulthard pointed to the minor incidents, such as Hamilton sliding into the gravel in Imola, believing they show that he is under pressure amid his chase for an eighth title.
“A remarkable amount of little incidents, he gets away with them,” Coulthard said to Channel 4.
“Whether it was running into the gravel at Imola, touching the barrier and being able to reverse out and various others, [hitting] the pit wall in Russia most recently where [there was] minimal damage to the car.
“That is the remarkable thing, you don’t really see him drop the ball massively, lots of little incidents, but it shows he’s under pressure.”
Fellow ex-racer and current Channel 4 pundit Mark Webber concurred with Coulthard, highlighting further examples in Baku and Budapest.
“Lewis is in this phenomenal fight with Max,” Webber said. “He went straight ahead at Baku on the restart, he pulled up on the grid in Budapest on his own, no one else, everyone else got inters he was on the slicks.
“So that for me was very un-Lewis characteristically in terms of how he has done some of those errors.”
Hamilton’s title duel with Verstappen will resume next weekend in Austin at the United States Grand Prix.
