How the Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen rivalry kicked off: 'He's such a d***head man'

The Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton rivalry is still alive and we know it absolutely erupted in 2021, but there may be a few of you don't know when it actually started.

First of all, answers I'm not taking. Max Verstappen's F1 debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix is not correct, and neither is his Red Bull debut a year later at the Spanish Grand Prix when he won thanks to Hamilton colliding with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Between 2014 and 2016, Hamilton's main focus was Rosberg, there was no one else in the title fight at this point such was Mercedes' car advantage.

For those who were not around then it was about as 100 times as toxic at absolutely anything that went on at McLaren last season (and even that was milquetoast).

The point is, Verstappen may have been winning races in 2016 but he wasn't even on Hamilton's radar.

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Hamilton vs Verstappen begins in Bahrain

Instead you have to go to 2018 when the first ripples emerge. The Mercedes war is long over after Rosberg walks away from F1 as world champion, replaced by the more, let's say, accommodating Valtteri Bottas to Hamilton's needs.

It's now Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel who are Hamilton's main rivals, but an improved Red Bull puts Verstappen nearer the front, and we know what that means.

That means on-track duels between arguably the sport's best driver and the sport's best driver in waiting, and the first chapter was at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix (not held in Malaysia).

Ironically though, this flashpoint actually happened in the midfield. Hamilton started the race at Sakhir P9 after a poor qualifying session and a five-place grid drop for a gearbox change. A bad start dropped him to tenth and into the clutches of Verstappen.

On the second lap, the Dutchman picked up the Mercedes slipstream on the straight and dived down the inside heading into turn one thinking he was slightly ahead. If you watch it from a 360 camera (which you can find here) you can see why Verstappen made that assumption.

Hamilton on the outside gave Verstappen space into turn one but with his front right wheel made contact with the left rear tyre of the Red Bull after the Dutchman moved to the outside after hitting the turn one apex.

After getting a puncture from the collision, Verstappen then lost drive and retired from the race.

Verstappen blames Hamilton

A fair call for this is a racing incident, and the FIA agreed taking no action... much to Verstappen's chagrin.

He said post-race: “Due to the hit with Lewis we sustained some more severe damage than just the puncture.

“From the start I was enjoying the feel of the car and finding the gaps and it was shaping up to be an exciting race. I had a good tow on the straight, the last corner was really good so it allowed me to stay close to Lewis.

“We got a bit squeezed but from the middle to the end of the corner I was ahead, I then felt a nudge from behind and could feel the puncture and therefore knew the race was likely over.

“In my opinion there was plenty of room for the both of us to go around that corner and to say ‘no action taken’ is a bit harsh as I am now out of the race due to that contact on my left rear.

“If it was the other way around I’m sure he would want it looked into.”

Hamilton: Verstappen was silly

Hamilton though disagreed, saying: "Ultimately, I had a coming together with Max and it was an unnecessary collision.

"There needs to be a certain respect between drivers. I need to watch it again, but it didn't feel like a respectful move.

"It was a silly move for him because he didn't finish the race and obviously he's tending to make quite a few mistakes recently.

"It was just unnecessary for him to do that. I can't really remember what point of the race it was or why we were in that position, but I don't really care to be honest."

And this was the polite version of what Hamilton thought. He recovered to finish on the podium in third place, and when seeing the incident back again on the screens in the cooldown room before the podium ceremony, he uttered, without care who was listening: "He's such a d***head man."

That clip alone is worth watching just to see the reaction of Ferrari race winner Sebastian Vettel!

Hamilton apology in China

It doesn't stop there, at the next race in China, Verstappen was at the press conference and was asked 'why do you think Lewis was moved to have a go at you?'

A 20-year-old Verstappen replied: "Because it's quite simple and easy to blame the younger driver, that's the only way I can see it. But like I said, you know, these things happen. There’s no reason for me to change anything."

In China, Hamilton admitted that he apologised to Verstappen for his comments, saying: “Being that I am the older driver I thought it important that I went to him.

“So I just shook his hand and said I’m sorry about the last race. Regardless if it is his fault or my fault, it doesn’t really matter. It’s in the past.

“Hopefully that sign of respect helps you kind of turn the page and move forward.”

He also said during the Shanghai weekend that Verstappen had to learn to have respect for all drivers.

“I have a lot of respect for Max and he’s got great potential to be a champion. He’s such a talented driver,” he added.

“Still, it’s such a learning process with all the pressure being in a top team, and you’re constantly learning. So he’s going to have some great rides and he’s going to have some bad races, just as I will.”

“But I think respect needs to be kept between all the drivers.”

Rather than water under the bridge and being an isolated incident, we now know that this was just the prologue for one of the most intense rivalries in the history of F1.

READ MORE: Christian Horner makes bombshell Masi Abu Dhabi 2021 admission

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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