It’s been more than three years since Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen regularly battled each other on track for supremacy in Formula 1.
The 2021 Formula 1 season will forever go down as one of the most intense fights for the drivers’ championship in the sport’s history.
Hamilton and Verstappen had some spectacular on-track clashes and produced some remarkable wheel-to-wheel action, although it occasionally went over the line.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff regretted not talking to Verstappen’s father after his huge crash at Silverstone that year.
The pair ran into each other at Monza and in Saudi Arabia, but the championship ultimately came down to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s star came out on top after a controversial final lap, but it ended up being a turning point in both of their careers.
Verstappen is now a four-time champion and hoping to match Michael Schumacher’s record of winning five titles on the bounce.
Hamilton has won just two Grand Prix since that day and now embarks on his latest challenge at Ferrari.
Separating both drivers, as well as F1 legends Schumacher and Ayrton Senna isn’t an easy task.
However, 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill was posed this question on Lucas Stewart’s YouTube channel and gave a very diplomatic answer.
Damon Hill gives verdict on who has more natural talent between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen
Hill was asked to rank Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton and Verstappen and said: “I think it’s very difficult to actually just make an order, you have to have a criteria next to that.
“In what way are they better than the others?
“Sheer speed, Ayrton. Unbelievable natural talent, just innate natural talent is Lewis.”
Hill was challenged on whether he would put Verstappen’s ability down to natural talent and clarified, “Max has got natural talent and he’s got very few weak spots as well.
“Michael was someone who, he built himself. I think he just became a machine, a winning machine through hard work and knowledge, and that can be said of Max as well.
“I’m not saying the others didn’t work hard, they worked hard as well.”
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton could be racing again in 2025
The 2025 Formula 1 season has the potential to reunite Hamilton and Verstappen at the front of the grid.
Red Bull fell away as last season progressed, but Verstappen still managed to comfortably win a fourth championship.
Although Hamilton struggled at times at Mercedes, particularly in qualifying, he showed signs of still being the driver that has the most wins in the history of the sport.
Hamilton was praised for his recovery drive in Abu Dhabi and would have likely won in Las Vegas had he not made mistakes during qualifying that saw him start P10.
Ferrari have a very good chance of having the fastest car in 2025 considering how they ended last year.
If that’s the case, then Hamilton and new teammate Charles Leclerc will be up against Verstappen, both McLaren drivers and George Russell every weekend.
It’s set to be an unbelievably tight season unless one team exposes a loophole in the ruleset, although resources will quickly be shifted towards the 2026 car when the regulations change.
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