Maverick is ahead of AEsp in points for the championship. So he is a little more than just already going at it, he is winning the contest, he is in the right bike for him.
Aleix keeps finishing ahead of him when they both finish races though and except for this last race Vines hasn't passed him in a race IIRC. Vines is ahead on points because of Aleix's crashes but at least he's pushing the limits of him/bike while it seems previously Vines was playing it safe (maybe collecting data/improving bike whatever but Aleix seems like he's more "going for it").