F1 champion Max Verstappen has hinted his rivalry with Lewis Hamilton could be different in the future. The 24-year-old recently beat the Brit to win the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi. Yet things may now be primed to change.
Verstappen was trailing Hamilton until the final lap in Abu Dhabi, with a safety car issue then paving the way for the Belgian-Dutch driver to reign supreme.
It was a fitting finale for a season where the two drivers, of Red Bull and Mercedes respectively, have regularly clashed on the grid.
Verstappen has been portrayed as a reckless driver throughout the campaign, something that bristles with the 24-year-old.
And, now, he’s hinted at a change of tactics by saying it ‘doesn’t need to be like this every year’.
“I don’t need to improve on this,” he told CarNext.
“For me, it doesn’t need to be like this every single year, I don’t think you can last a long time in F1 like that.
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“I am happy with how it played out but it was an amazing season, I think.
“A lot of unpredictable things happened, of course.
“The two teams fighting against each other, that is always more exciting than when it is just one team dominating and it is just the two team-mates basically fighting.”
Verstappen is currently on a high after reigning supreme, getting the better of Hamilton.
Right now, the Brit’s future within the sport is shrouded in uncertainty with speculation over retirement arising.
Hamilton has, however, usually bounced back from adversity in the past.
He won his first title at the age of 23 in 2008 but then had to watch Jenson Button claim the award the following year.
Sebastian Vettel then dominated for four years, with Hamilton eventually getting the better of the German in 2014.
Hamilton won the title again in 2015 but missed out the following year to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who then retired in the aftermath.
The Stevenage-born racer clocked up four titles in a row between 2017 and 2020, all achieved with the Silver Arrows.
However, his dominance of the sport is now over with Verstappen the newest champion in the sport.
Verstappen also denied Hamilton the chance to make history in Abu Dhabi, too.
The Brit, had he won the race, would have had eight titles – moving him ahead of Michael Schumacher in the record books.
Instead, he’ll now have to wait until 2022 – at the earliest – to overtake Schumacher.
Rosberg, meanwhile, recently opened up on Hamilton and expressed a belief the 36-year-old would be back for more next time around.
“It was heartbreaking for him, absolutely, because up until four laps from the end he was almost certain to be world champion,” he said.
“Then with this change of procedure or whatever you want to call it, suddenly he lost the world championship.
“It was tough, it was extremely tough.
“But of course I do count on him being back on the grid next year and fighting to get back that world championship that kind of got taken away from him in a way.”
Rosberg also hopes that Hamilton and Verstappen serve up another classic next year, having been neck and neck throughout the entirety of last season.
“I do hope that Lewis and Max will go at it again next year,” Rosberg continued.
“Of course I’m not the guy to be saying that because I also disappeared into the distance after I won a title, so it really wouldn’t be fair to say that!
“It was just so amazing, those two guys.
“Lewis used to be – or is – the best wheel-to-wheel racer, and here comes Verstappen who is really taking it to him in wheel-to-wheel racing and sometimes even being better. It’s incredible to see their skill and to watch them go at it.”