Lewis Hamilton had a titanic championship battle with Max Verstappen in 2021. They had several clashes, though they never came together for an accident until Silverstone. Hamilton’s former teammate Heikki Kovalainen spoke about why these collisions are happening between Hamilton and Verstappen. The duo collided for the fourth time in 2 seasons recently in Brazil.

Hamilton and Verstappen were involved in several collisions last season at Silverstone, Monza, and Jeddah. Lewis’s former McLaren teammate opined that the Briton may have changed his mindset to not give in to Max Verstappen while racing wheel-to-wheel.

Speaking for TalkSport, Kovalainen said, “At the start of last [2021] season they had some clashes, but it was often Lewis [Hamilton] giving in and Max [Verstappen] driving quite ruthlessly, until Silverstone, where Lewis didn’t give in on the first lap.” [translated via Google]

“I think it was a conscious decision – not to have an accident, but to go all the way if they were wheel to wheel.”

The Finnish driver stated, “I haven’t discussed it with Lewis, and I don’t think he would admit it, but I think at Silverstone he decided he was tired of avoiding the collisions that Max was looking for and that he was going to set a limit this time.”

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Kovalainen believes that neither of the two wishes to concede the corner while racing each other on track. He pointed out how Verstappen’s approach is different while racing Charles Leclerc.

The rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

The two titans of modern F1 – Hamilton and Verstappen. The manner in which this duo battled for the 2021 championship was epic. There was ruthless racing for each and every point and position. Since the first race, we saw clashes in race strategy and overtaking battles.

Neither driver wished to concede the slightest advantage to the other. And then the tension became tangible as the season progressed. The huge accident at Silverstone that saw Verstappen retire from the British GP was a turning point in this rivalry. Since then, the gloves were off.

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After Silverstone, despite being away from each other, fate brought Hamilton and Verstappen together in Italy. Colliding at the exit of the first chicane in Monza, both their cars were on top of each other, retiring right away.

Cut to the Saudi Arabian GP, which was the penultimate round of the season, Lewis and Max again collided. In a pitched battle for the lead under lights in Jeddah, both drivers suffered damage to their cars. While Verstappen struggled in the rest of the race, Hamilton won in Saudi Arabia to set a title showdown at the final race.

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Almost 12 months later, fans thought they will race better and give space to each other on track. Nonetheless, after the 2022 Sao Paulo GP incident, it’s quite clear that this ain’t the case.

If Hamilton gets a competitive car in 2023, will we see more Hamilton-Verstappen collisions?