Despite Lewis Hamilton’s “Ugly” Criticism, Reigning Champ Max Verstappen Opts To Stick To His Earned Privilege: “I Will Use…”

Max Verstappen has been a thorn in the side of Lewis Hamilton ever since the start of the 2021 season. That being said, in 2022, their interaction has been very limited. But Lewis Hamilton has one massive pet peeve that Max Verstappen isn’t willing to let go of.

Recently, Lewis Hamilton was asked to sum his 2022 up. He did take it on a positive note. However, during the conversation with Sky Sports, he revealed what irked him the most this season. He said, “It was not easy, I think it’s more the big ugly number one [on Verstappen’s Red Bull] I’m kidding! I’m not really fazed by these things.”

Was he kidding, though?

That being said, Verstappen isn’t even thinking about ditching that number anytime soon. He said, “How often do you get the chance to drive with starting number 1 in your Formula 1 career? You never know.”

“I can always go back to number 33 if I am no longer world champion. But as long as I am world champion, I will use number 1 every single year.”

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Hamilton and Verstappen have not always been able to see eye-to-eye. There is apparent acrimony between the two that somehow always spills out even though, on paper, they didn’t fight for the title this season.

The unseen aggravation of Max Verstappen by the hands of Lewis Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel stole the show at the Qualifying session at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That being said, behind the scenes, Lewis Hamilton was busy getting on the nerves of 2x Champion Max Verstappen.

In F1, there’s a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that during Quali, no one shall overtake anyone on the outlap and maintain a reasonable distance so as to not compromise anyone’s flying lap.

Hamilton didn’t seem to care for that though. He jumped the queue to cruise past Verstappen. This irked the Dutch lion. He came onto the radio and exclaimed, “Unbelievable!”

His race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, had to calm him down. “Let them play, let him go. Let him play.”

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If Mercedes gets their act together, we may see a re-run of the Hamilton v. Verstappen show next year. Who will come out victorious this time?