Max Verstappen says his season-long battle with Lewis Hamilton has changed his opinion of the Briton and Mercedes, and not for the better.
After an intense and eventful 2021 campaign, Verstappen and Hamilton will battle it out one final time this weekend, with at stake a historic maiden title for the Dutchman or a record eighth crown for his rival.
It's been a turbulent road to Abu Dhabi for the pair, marked by supreme battles but also flash points and controversy. An itinerary during which Verstappen's views of his arch-rival and his team have changed.
"Very much, yeah," he said on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. "And not in a positive way."
Verstappen pointed to his latest on-track tussle with Hamilton in Qatar for which he believes he was unfairly punished by the stewards while his rival was given a free pass.
"Other people do exactly the same thing and they get nothing," he said.
"Both of us were off the track [at Jeddah], we were outside of the white line into Turn 1, and somehow they judged that it was my fault, which I don’t agree with. And then also the other penalty as well, I don’t agree with.
"And afterwards, he pushes me off the track. He even looks at me [in his mirrors], and doesn't turn in, and just pushes me outside of the white line, the track edge. And he only gets a warning for that.
"Definitely, it’s not how it should be, I think, and also not fair, because it seems like other drivers can do different things, and only I get a penalty."
But Verstappen said the saga involving Mercedes' rear wing was another episode in which his views of the Brackley squad had changed.
"Of course checks will always be carried out," he said. "Unfortunately, we can’t check again how it was in previous races throughout the season, because there was definitely some things going on.
"But yeah, it is what it is."
Ahead of this weekend's showdown, Bernie Ecclestone suggested that Verstappen has been incessantly bullied this season by Mercedes.
The Dutchman was asked of what he made of the former F1 supremo's comment.
"Clearly he feels that something is not right," he said. "For me, I don’t experience of course bullying. But I think that what is going on is not correct.
"From my side, I just try to be the best I can and I try to win this weekend. That’s, at the end of the day, how you win a championship.
"But I feel very good actually. Very relaxed. I arrive here to win, it has been that way every single weekend, and that’s what I’ll try to do this weekend again. Like I said before, for sure it won’t change my life."
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