Where does Hamilton v Verstappen rank in F1's greatest rivalries?
By Oli Dickson Jefford
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton provided one of the most thrilling battles in F1 history throughout 2021, with the title race hanging in the balance up until the very final lap of the season.
It was a battle that ebbed and flowed throughout the campaign and was stacked with high-quality racing – along with a decent helping of controversy.
Verstappen’s charge and ultimate title victory has breathed new life into F1 and anticipation is building for 2022, though this is already a legendary rivalry no matter what happens in the future.
F1 is a sport full of classic rivalries, so where does Hamilton v Verstappen rank among those?
Hunt v Lauda, 1976
Many would have learnt about James Hunt and Niki Lauda’s rivalry from ‘Rush’ but for fans of the sport, this is a rivalry many will know like the back of their hand.
Heading into the 1976 season Lauda, a hard-working, quiet and understated driver, had the world at his feet after winning his first world title while the outgoing Hunt was chasing a maiden title of his own.
Hunt’s McLaren proved unreliable early in the season, with four retirements in the opening six races, while Lauda started the season with four wins and two further podiums.
The Austrian, driving for Ferrari, held a 33-point lead at one stage though the season was defined by his near-fatal crash at the German Grand Prix.
Miraculously Lauda survived, sustaining life-changing injuries, and returned two races later at the Italian Grand Prix, by which time Hunt had closed the gap.
Lauda held a three-point advantage heading into the final race in Japan but amid torrential rain, he was unwilling to risk his life again and retired early on.
Hunt’s third-place was enough to see him pip his rival by just one point, sealing his only world title - Lauda would go on to triumph in 1977 and 1984.
Prost v Senna, 1988-1990
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw two all-time greats of the sport battle for world titles.
Alain Prost and Aryton Senna are two of the best ever to race in F1 and it is hard to assess how many titles both would have won without facing the other.
Their rivalry began in 1988 when Senna joined Prost at McLaren in 1988, by which time the Frenchman was already a two-time world champion.
The two won 15 of the year’s 16 races, with Senna edging out Prost by three points by the end of the season with tension beginning to rise.
And that tension only continued in the next two seasons, with the 1989 and 1990 Japanese Grand Prix’s both controversial.
In 1989 the two collided in the closing laps and after Senna was ruled to have re-entered the race illegally, Prost sealed a third championship.
Twelve months later, a first corner collision saw both men crash out at the same race and handed Senna championship victory over Prost, who was now racing for Ferrari.
The Brazilian would win his third and final title in 1991 with Prost winning his final title in 1993, though neither of those victories are remembered in the same way as their previous battles.
Schumacher v Hill, 1994-1996
Michael Schumacher became the heavy favourite to win his first title in 1994 after Senna’s tragic death at Imola.
The German won six of the first seven races of 1994 and was seemingly cruising to the title, though a two-race ban disrupted his campaign and allowed Damon Hill to claw back ground.
The Brit was also chasing a maiden title and four wins from five in the races building up to the season finale in Australia saw him sit on 91 points, with Schumacher just one ahead on 92.
Schumacher was comfortably leading the contest when he hit a wall and lost time, allowing Hill to gain ground and find room to pass his rival.
Then, Schumacher turned sharply to attempt to cut off Hill and the two collided; Schumacher’s Bennetton briefly went up in the air and retired immediately, while Hill also later retired.
Many believed the manoeuvre was deliberate but there was no protest and it controversially handed Schumacher the first of his seven world titles.
The two would be among the main protagonists the following seasons, with Schumacher prevailing in 1995 and Hill in 1996, though it never quite hit the heights of that first battle.
Alonso v Vettel, 2012
Heading into the 2012 season, Sebastian Vettel had won two straight titles and was favoured to win a third in a row for Red Bull.
However, after just missing out in 2010, two-time champion Fernando Alonso was once again expected to challenge and the two ultimately pulled away from the rest of the field.
McLaren’s Hamilton and Jenson Button started well but it was largely the Spaniard and German leading the way, with Alonso and Ferrari holding a 40-point lead after the Hungarian Grand Prix.
However, the Spaniard’s lead slowly evaporated and Vettel took the lead after the Korean Grand Prix, holding a 13-point lead going into the final race in Brazil.
Alonso had the most pace throughout the weekend and was well-placed as he sat in second with Vettel down in sixth.
However a late safety car meant he could not overtake Button to win the race and the title, with Vettel claiming victory by just three points to win the third of his four titles.
How does Verstappen v Hamilton compare?
This year’s battle was certainly an all-time great contest, pitting arguably the greatest against a future great.
It is hard to top Senna v Prost. The two are both outright greats of the sport, and their rivalry endured over three seasons of drama, controversy and iconic racing.
However, you could argue that Hamilton and Verstappen’s duel sits second on the list; the two were tied going into the final race, and went well and truly down to the wire.
Though Lauda and Hunt’s rivalry is iconic, the Austrian would have likely sealed the championship earlier had it not been for his horrific accident.
And, while it was a tense battle for a year, Schumacher and Hill’s rivalry stuttered a little after 1994 and Alonso v Vettel didn’t quite capture the public imagination as much as it should have.
Only time will tell where it ranks but there is no doubt 2021 provided a battle for the ages.
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