How Max Verstappen responded when asked if he misses battling with Lewis Hamilton

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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton haven’t contested a ‘rematch’ since their 2021 title battle. It’s a missing chapter in their rivalry.

Hamilton entered the 2022 season determined to hit back after Verstappen prevailed at the 2021 finale in one of the most controversial F1 races ever. But he quickly realised that Mercedes couldn’t keep up with Red Bull.

Verstappen won the first three championships of F1’s ground-effect era, and Hamilton never got within 200 points. There were occasional battles, but the stakes have generally been low.

Verstappen’s streak will almost certainly come to an end this year, but Ferrari haven’t furnished a struggling Hamilton with a contending car either. Perhaps they will cross paths again in 2026, but the regulation changes make the pecking order extremely difficult to predict.

Max Verstappen explains why he doesn’t ‘miss’ Lewis Hamilton fights

In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, Verstappen was asked whether he misses battling with Hamilton for the F1 ‘crown’. While the rivalry was extremely tense, it also made for one of the most enthralling seasons in the sport’s history.

Verstappen ‘appreciates the struggle’ he had against Hamilton, which no doubt made him a better driver. He entered that season as a 23-year-old without a championship to his name and faced a driver who had won record-equalling seven.

• READ MORE: Max Verstappen confidante reveals the subtle thing he used to do in the cooldown room to annoy Lewis Hamilton

But Verstappen wouldn’t say he ‘misses’ those days. There have been fleeting challenges from Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris during his title run, but nothing close to what happened in 2021.

“No… ‘missing’ is a very strong term,” he said. “I appreciate the struggle I had at that time.”

Is Max Verstappen’s 2021 title triumph his favourite?

Verstappen was also asked whether his 2024 title edges 2021. He won seven out of the first 10 Grands Prix to establish a comfortable lead last season, but Red Bull slipped to third or even fourth in the pecking order as the season progressed.

Norris and McLaren chipped away at the lead, but never got closer than 44 points. That was a testament to Verstappen’s almost robotic consistency, even when he wasn’t winning races.

He was reluctant to expressly rank it above 2021, though. Verstappen was also responsible for the most dominant season the sport has ever seen in 2023 when he won over 80% of the races.

• READ MORE: Toto Wolff shares what Lewis Hamilton ‘decided’ before Silverstone crash with Max Verstappen in 2021

“The 2024 season is one I’m very proud of, without a doubt, in terms of how we managed things and how we optimised the car’s performance,” he said. “But for me, every championship has a special meaning, of course.”

“It’s different [to 2021]. All the titles are different, and I think that’s what makes them so beautiful.”