“Max Verstappen was afraid of Lewis Hamilton”: F1 Twitter give their reactions to the Championship battle in F1 2022 compared to last year

“Max Verstappen was afraid of Lewis Hamilton”: F1 Twitter give their reactions to the Championship battle in F1 2022 compared to last year

Charles Leclerc(on the left) and Max Verstappen(on the right)

The roiling competition between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the previous season of Formula 1 had every motorsports enthusiasts engrossed as they all wanted to know what would be the final outcome of their ultimate showdown at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. So close were the two rivals, that their quest for the Championship dragged on to the very last race on the F1 Calendar in the Yas Marina Circuit, where the world watch on as the two battled for achieveing their personal goals–a first-ever Championship win for Verstappen, and a record-breaking eighth World title for Hamilton.

In the end, Max Verstappen was crowned the winner of F1 2021 World Championship amidst huge controversies. But even then, everyone praised the Dutchman’s talent and prowess behind the wheels, and were awestruck at how he has developed his skills in Formula 1 ever since he started out as a seventeen-year-old in Toro Rosso eight years ago. And fast forward to 2022, Max Verstappen has found himself in yet another Championship battle–this time, it is with Ferrari’s young recruit, Charles Leclerc.

While Max Verstappen faltered a few times at the beginning of the current season, Charles Leclerc took advantage of those times and scored back-to-back race wins. But then started Ferrari’s slew of tactical errors and car issues, and Charles Leclerc was robbed of many guaranteed podium finishes. Now, Max was asked to comment on his rivalry with Leclerc, compared to the one he had with Hamilton. And his reply has got all of F1 Twitter debating over it.

Also Read: ‘No team order between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’: Gerhard Berger urges Ferrari not to prioritise any driver

Fans believe Max Verstappen’s rivalry with Hamilton had more ferocity than his competition with Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen after the race
Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen after the race

In a recent post on their Twitter handle, Motorsport shared Max Verstappen‘s reaction when he was asked to compare his rivalry with Hamilton with his rivalry with Leclerc. And the Dutchman said, “Let’s say it like this, I would not be on a table on Saturday night having a laugh with Mercedes.” F1 fans quickly started sharing their thoughts on Max’s reply and some of them said Lewis Hamilton played mindgames on Max unlike Charles Leclerc, while others said it was Max’s fault that his rivalry with Lewis Hamilton became so toxic as they crashed in Silverstone.

Some of the fans were up there wondering where is the competition between Max and Charles as the 24-year-old is at the lead of the WDC table with an 80-point-advantage over the Monegasque. And then there were some Twitterati who claimed Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s rivalry reached the heights that it did because of their Team Toro Wolff and Christian Horner, as they were always spewing words at each other.

Here are some tweets from the fans regarding the comparison between Max Verstappen’s rivalry with Lewis Hamilton and his fight with Charles Leclerc —

But then, the most atrocious tweet by a fan was made when one of the Twitter users claimed that Max Verstappen was actually pretty scared of Lewis Hamilton, and this time, he is not afraid of Charles Leclerc as he knows he will get an easy win.

Also Read: “Peak Senna or Peak Schumacher?”: Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen along with other F1 drivers answer difficult ‘would you rather’ questions

Also Read: “Oscar didn’t do anything wrong,” Ralf Schumacher defends Oscar Piastri’s sudden decision to leave Alpine