“He’s not God,” Max Verstappen had issued an ominous warning before ending Lewis Hamilton’s dominance
Max Verstappen ended Lewis Hamilton's dominance, and now, he is a two-time world champion. Before doing so, he had warned that Hamilton is "not God." - and insisted he could be beaten.
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Max Verstappen (L) | Lewis Hamilton (R)
Lewis Hamilton was the dominant force in Formula 1 for almost the entirety of the hybrid era, with the only ‘stain’ being Nico Rosberg beating him to the 2016 world championship. But this dominance ended long ago, at the hands of one Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has pretty much picked up from where Hamilton left off, and gone strength to strength from 2021 to 2022, winning both titles. Right now, it’s fair to say that he is the dominant force.
After Hamilton’s exploits from 2014 to 2020 (especially 2020), it was hard to imagine his current situation – that he would not win a single race all season. In 2020, he was on top of the world, and it’s fair to say that it was his and Mercedes’ most dominant year. For neutrals, there was not a lot to look forward to – except Verstappen. The Dutchman was really the only one to consistently keep up with the Mercedes duo.
In fact, he only finished 9 points behind Valtteri Bottas despite 4 more retirements. He has always believed in himself, and that he could beat Hamilton given the right car. Before the start of a COVID-19-affected 2020 season, one of Verstappen’s statements once again reflected this. In early February of that year, when asked if he could beat Hamilton over a season, the Dutchman said as per The Evening Standard: “Yes. Of course, it is very car-dependent in Formula One.”
While he acknowledged Hamilton as ‘one of the best’, Verstappen insisted that he is ‘not God’: “Lewis is very good. He is definitely one of the best out there. [But] He is not God, maybe God is with him, but he is not God. When you can put the pressure on it is a lot harder for the guy in the lead. If he never really has pressure, he can drive at 97 or 98 per cent and then you never make mistakes.”
Max Verstappen proved his point against Lewis Hamilton in 2021
Max Verstappen further stated that Red Bull could “mount the pressure” on Lewis Hamilton if they were within two-tenths Unfortunately for him, that’s not exactly what happened. In the first qualifying session of the year in Austria, Verstappen was more than five-tenths off the top (Valtteri Bottas led the field, with Hamilton +0.012s behind). He did not have a car to consistently compete with Hamilton. Regardless, he ended the season with 2 wins, including the season finale.
But he got his chance in 2021, and he proved his words stood true. Albeit, by the skin of his teeth. The championship fight could not have been any closer – literally being decided on the last lap. They’d even gone into the season finale equal on points. It’s clear that Verstappen had to extract his absolute best to beat Hamilton. The Briton is one of the greatest drivers of all time – you cannot falter on any count.
Verstappen proved his mettle and his words. Then, in 2022, he further hammered home the point and cemented his status as the man to beat in Formula 1. If everything goes right for Mercedes, then fans could be treated to another Verstappen-Hamilton battle in 2023, but there’ll be other competition as well – such as Ferrari. It’s setting up to be an exciting season.
In case you missed it:
- “I’d still have been complaining,” Ex-Red Bull driver praises Lewis Hamilton for his maturity after losing the F1 world title to Max Verstappen
- Christian Horner blames Max Verstappen-Sergio Perez team orders saga in Brazil on a Red Bull ‘mistake’
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)