Stewart: Both of them are perhaps overdriving

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are locked in an intense fight for the 2021 F1 Drivers' Championship, which seems to be going down to the wire, despite the latter currently leading by 12 points with five races yet to be contested.

The two drivers have had their fair share of clashes on track with Silverstone and Monza still imprinted in the memories of the F1 community.

Speaking to Motorsport-Magazin, Stewart gave his view about this title duel from a safety point of view, something the Scottish Legend has always been vocal about during his illustrious F1 career and even after retirement.

"Both of them are perhaps overdriving a little bit the present time, as we've seen, at least on two occasions," Stewart pointed out. "I hope that's been recognised in the most positive way.

He then went on to say: "I wouldn't like to see anything nasty happening, although of course motor racing today is so safe.

"The accident that happened at Silverstone, in my day, he [Verstappen] would have died," the 82-year-old claimed, when referring to the 51G- crash Verstappen endured, after being punted by Hamilton while fighting for the lead at the British Grand Prix at 180mph.

"Sometimes liberties are being taken that shouldn't be taken, so we've got to be careful with this," he warned. "Don't get too carried away by needing to win. To finish first, first you must finish."

When asked to predict who might prevail between Hamilton and Verstappen, Stewart's answer was: "It's going to end up with who is going to have the least mechanical failures, because both of them are both driving magnificently well."

In light of Mercedes' current reliability concerns over their power units, that should favor Verstappen and Red Bull, but Sir Jackie thinks that Mercedes' track record will still be an important factor in their favor.

"I think it could go to either of the drivers," he said.

And summed up saying: "I think in the end, because of the experience that the Mercedes team have - as well as the driver - they probably have the best chance to do it."

Verstappen came out on top in the latest episode at the 2021 United States Grand Prix, with Hamilton second.

The next race will be at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, where in theory, Red Bull and Max Verstappen should be favorites, but based on how things have gone this year, it's anyone's guess who will win there.