The title pressure is back! Lewis Hamilton had been on a joyous stint since his rival, Nico Rosberg won the championship trophy in 2016.

Valtteri Bottas just wasn’t quick enough to challenge the Briton, and neither were the then title challengers, Ferrari or Red Bull.

The entire world watched as Hamilton kept piling up race win after race win, hardly ever coming across any resistance from his own teammate or others. It was almost like watching a herd of deers challenge a lion in its prime.

Crucially though, just when it looked like Hamilton could effortlessly secure his record-breaking 8th championship title, an obstruction arrived, and certainly not an easy one – Max Verstappen.

This season has offered too many resemblances to the 2016 title fight, with Verstappen heading into the final part of the season with a narrow lead in hand. And also, Verstappen and Hamilton have been involved in one too many incidents much like Rosberg and Hamilton.

Rosberg or Verstappen: The toughest rival of Lewis Hamilton

As we all know, rivaling with Hamilton is not an easy task, and drivers like Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, and Sebastian Vettel learned it the hard way. But, like Rosberg, Verstappen looks well settled in his duel with the 7-time world champion.

There are too many similarities between Verstappen and Rosberg in their title rivalries with Hamilton. But let’s look at the differences; who is the best? It is a tough question to answer, considering Verstappen’s season is not over yet and the end result could go either way from here.

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But, let’s assume Verstappen lifts the title and re-route to this question.

Rosberg over Verstappen?

We’d say Nico Rosberg. Verstappen fans might not like to hear this but we feel Rosberg had the odds stacked against him. One, he had to tackle a lot of hindrances within his own team to defeat Hamilton. And that certainly isn’t the case with Red Bull at the moment.

Being a rival from a different team, Verstappen has had the freedom to challenge Hamilton without worrying about the outcome. If things did go awry, the team always had his back.

Two, favorable team orders is not an aspect to worry about for the Dutchman. If anything, his teammate, Sergio Perez has only helped him on several occasions; French GP for instance.

The final point is Verstappen not having to challenge Hamilton in equal machinery; Rosberg had no upper hand whatsoever against the Briton in terms of performance.

Contrastingly, the 2021 season has witnessed Verstappen enjoy the sheer power of Honda and the chassis of Red Bull; this pace advantage has helped Verstappen clinch a whopping 9 race wins so far despite enduring 3 DNFs.

Overall, this doesn’t take anything away from Verstappen’s own talent. The young Dutchman has been at the top throughout this season. But, things are set to get a bit tougher from here amid the resurgence of Hamilton and Mercedes. So, can Verstappen somehow hold off Hamilton until the end as Rosberg did? Only time will tell.

Watch Story: Ugliest Moments in Hamilton-Rosberg Rivalry