LEWIS AND MAX: UNCOVERING THE ROOTS OF F1’S FIERCEST RIVALRY
A month on from that final lap in Abu Dhabi and emotions are still running high. The acrimony between fans of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen continues to be as vitriolic as ever. Meanwhile pressure is mounting on the FIAto take meaningful action following the decisions made by race director Michael Masi in those crucial final moments of the title decider.
And the continued presence of Formula 1’s biggest name remains in question as Mercedes says Lewis is “disillusioned” with the sport and its credibility.
The events ofAbu Dhabi were an unfortunate, but perhaps inevitable, result of one of the most hard-fought World championship campaigns for many years. The one-sided domination of Mercedes in the turbo-hybrid era (dating back to 2014) has meant battles between rival teams have not been commonplace.
Up until last year, Verstappen and Red Bull had weekends where they were competitive, but unable to sustain a yearlong challenge. That changed in 2021.
The seeds of this driving duel were sown a while back. When Verstappen first burst onto the F1 scene it was inevitable his trajectory would take him on a direct collision course with Hamilton.
