Max Verstappen has rubbed salt into Lewis Hamilton’s wounds courtesy of the changes he has made to his helmet ahead of the new F1 season. Verstappen landed his first F1 title last year after defeating Hamilton in controversial fashion at the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.
Last season’s F1 title race proved to be one of the most intense contests ever. Verstappen held a 32-point lead over his title rival in the summer and appeared to be home and dry with four races of the calendar remaining.
But Hamilton rallied as he won in Brazil, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to set-up a winner-takes-all final race in the desert.
The rivals went into the season climax level pegging as Hamilton aimed for a record eighth championship.
And the Briton looked set to make history as he overtook his nemesis on the first lap and led for most of the Grand Prix.
But the race was thrown wide open after Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed into a wall late on, which resulted in a safety car being deployed.
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He has also added the No 1 onto the spoiler on the back of his helmet after deciding to drop his regular No 33.
And he has also put a world championship star on the back of the helmet.
“A bit more gold, as you can see,” Verstappen gushed as he revealed the helmet for the first time.
“I decided to just not change the design a lot but just change the colours a little bit. So instead of the red you could see before, it’s now basically fully gold everywhere.
“Tiny little upgrades but I do think the gold makes it a little bit cooler.”
