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Max Verstappen Makes Honest Pick Between Lewis Hamilton & Charles Leclerc

Published 07/30/2022, 1:55 PM EDT

The rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton was a thing of F1 beauty. The ardent rivals fought tooth and nail for the 2021 championship, putting everything on the line. However, the desire for the maiden championship trumped the aspiration for a record-breaking eighth title.

The championship bout that stretched down to the wire, and concluded with controversy, produced a gripping season. And despite a largely entertaining season, we cannot compare the 2022 season to the 2021 season.

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After numerous errors from Ferrari coupled with reliability issues, Red Bull seems to be running away with the championship on both fronts. Mercedes are a shadow of their 2021 self and unable to give Red Bull a run for their money.

However, the Dutchman declared he prefers the 2022 season tussle with Leclerc over the one with Hamilton.

Speaking to Sky Italy, Verstappen said, “I prefer what we have now because, first of all, Charles I know very well, he’s a nice guy, we are a similar age…”

“On Saturday night, we even had a laugh in Paul Ricard… We are hard competitors on the track and we will always try to beat each other, which I think is very normal, but outside of it you can have a good time as well, and that’s what I really enjoy about this year.”

“Let’s say it like this, I would not be on a table on Saturday night having a laugh with (Mercedes),” he added.

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Interesting to see Verstappen completely dismissing the 2021 rivalry with Mercedes. Safe to assume that Verstappen’s comments will get reactions from the F1 fraternity.

Max Verstappen prefers the 2022 season over 2021 and a former driver reacts

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Former racing driver Johnny Herbert has already recorded his disbelief over Verstappen’s comments. “(It was) disappointing actually in many respects,” said Sky Sports F1’s Johnny Herbert.

And added, “He seems to sort of just dismissed Lewis straight away, and then he was straight onto Charles and Ferrari the battle they’re having. But I don’t understand why his comments would be so negative towards Lewis and the battle that they had last year. I’m quite perplexed.”

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Watch This Story: Bromance moments between Max Verstappen & Lewis Hamilton

Herbert is one of many who have reacted to Verstappen’s comments as the Dutchman potentially opens a can of worms.

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Written by:

Mahim Suhalka is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. This Sports Management post-graduate is an ardent supporter of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team and their lead driver, Lewis Hamilton. The fact that Lewis dominated one of the most expensive sports in the world for all these years, despite his humble beginnings, has been a huge inspiration for Mahim and has made him a tenured fan of the competitive sport itself.

Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh

Max Verstappen Makes Honest Pick Between Lewis Hamilton & Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen prefers the 2022 season over 2021 and a former driver reacts

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