“To Say He’s the Best of His Generation? I Don’t Know”: Stats Don’t Matter as Lewis Hamilton Was Once Given Brutal Snub From Long-Time F1 Rival

The rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will go down in Formula 1 history as the most memorable of the modern era. And the 2021 season is not the point of its origin, it goes way back. Back in 2019, when Lewis Hamilton was a five-time champion and Max Verstappen was just getting used to winning the races, the Red Bull driver hit the Briton with a brutal snub. The Dutchman snubbed Lewis Hamilton by saying he wasn’t a “great” driver. Some would say the seeds of rivalry were sown with this statement.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Max Verstappen was asked about the greatest driver of the previous generation, which also included the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso. 

Answering upon Lewis’ greatness and his pick from the previous generation, Max argued, “Lewis has won many championships, but that doesn’t define ‘great’.”

“He’s undoubtedly one of the best who has ever done it. But really, to say that he’s the best of his generation? I don’t know. Maybe it’s Fernando Alonso. He could have won seven, eight world titles, if he had been at the right team.”

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The statement was a hot one, but things further escalated in 2021. The competition on track was intense, but on the mic, it was far more profound.

The relationship and rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

The two drivers went head-to-head in 2021 to an extent that was unimaginable and delivered the season of a lifetime. However, that resulted in a massive deterioration of their relationship as comments were made back and forth from both garages.

Speaking to German TV channel Servus last year about their relationship, Max addressed the 2021 fiasco by saying, “We have a lot of respect for each other. If one of you does it right, of course you can tell the other. Last year’s conflict was not necessarily between the drivers, but more between the teams.”

However, Lewis Hamilton seems to share a different yet, in some ways, similar view of the dynamics between them. As per formula1news.co.uk, he said, “Max did his duty last year and I have zero problems with him. There’s quite a few years between us so probably out of the car there wasn’t that mutual respect. But there are no hard feelings.”

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Do you think the relationship between the two improved after lesser conflicts in 2022? Or would they be back at it as soon as Lewis joins the front of the grid again?