The current rivalry between rising star Max Verstappen and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is probably one of the most exciting title fights in recent Formula 1 history.
Rivalries like these are great to bet on and almost all online bookmakers open bets for Formula 1. 1XBET is definitely one of the biggest that offers a large selection of betting options. If you haven’t yet, you can register using the 1XBET promo code and enjoy exclusive welcome promotions.
However, at Bonuscodes.com you’ll find many more reviews, rankings and opinions of online casinos and bookmakers. Great fun of course if you are going to bet on Verstappen or Hamilton at the upcoming GP, but in this post we also discuss other rivals in Formula 1 from the past decades.
Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton
Reigning world champion Hamilton feels the heat of Max Verstappen now more than ever before. Almost every race it is neck-and-neck and the difference in points in the standings has been small all season.
So far Verstappen has not yet succeeded in taking the crown from Hamilton, but for the first time this season there is actually a real chance that he will. The emotions between the two drivers are sometimes running high and it seems that this championship battle will go down in the books as one of the most memorable.
Lewis Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg
However, before Verstappen showed up in Hamilton’s rear view mirrors, the Englishman had an intense rivalry with his good friend from younger years, Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton-Rosberg seemed like a perfect pairing when Lewis Hamilton joined team Mercedes in 2013. His buddy Rosberg had been driving for the team since 2010. However, the mood soon swung when the following year the V8s were traded in for V6 hybrids and the championship became a personal battle between the two Mercedes drivers.
The battle for the title in 2014 was won by Hamilton. That was of course a bummer for Rosberg, but the relationship got really hurt when Hamilton sustained damage in the Belgian GP and held Rosberg responsible.
In 2015 Hamilton was once again the fastest driver, but the following year Rosberg managed to recover and crowned himself world champion after a bitter battle. He then suddenly announced the end of his Formula 1 career. But, the rivalry between the two still lives on, now that both own an Extreme E team.
Mark Webber vs Sebastian Vettel
Another interesting rivalry is the one between Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Although Webber seemed to have the upper hand at winning the Formula 1 championship in 2010, in the end it was Vettel who walked away with the win, after finishing first with only four points difference. Webber clearly had a hard time swallowing it. What started as a good friendship soon became animosity.
Vettel won the world title four times in a row between 2010 and 2013, following in the footsteps of Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Lewis Hamilton matched this feat last year and it is up to Verstappen to put a stop to him actually breaking the record. Webber eventually never managed to win the world championship.
Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost
Senna came to the McLaren team as a great promise in 1988. Initially, relations with the then already two-time world champion Alain Prost seemed good. The all powerful team won 15 out of 16 races that year and Senna captured his first world title.
In 1989, things went wrong. A fight over a gentlemen’s agreement in Imola was the start and then things go from bad to worse. In the last race of the season with the world title at stake, the two collided, Prost crashed out and Senna was disqualified. The Frenchman is now world champion but vows never to drive with Senna as a teammate again.
Senna takes revenge in 1990 on Prost, who left for Ferrari. A similar scenario unfolds in Japan and the two go off hard in the first corner, whether through Senna’s fault or not, and now the Brazilian wins the championship. In 1993 Prost returns after a sabbatical, this time with Williams. Key contract condition: he does not want Senna as a teammate. In that year, The Professor says goodbye after winning his fourth and final title.
James Hunt vs Niki Lauda
We end with what might be the biggest rivalry in Formula One history, that between Niki Lauda and James Hunt. This championship battle was so intense that it was even made into a movie that appeared on the big screen in 2013; Rush.
The story of the 1976 Formula 1 title race really is one that can be called film-worthy. After Lauda’s severe accident at the Nürburgring, which left him with life-threatening burns and severely damaged lungs, the Austrian managed to climb back into his Ferrari after 6 weeks.
In the last race of the season, however, Lauda withdrew due to safety concerns he had about the bad weather on that day. Hunt only barely managed to get enough points after a final sprint in the last two laps. He won the championship by just one point ahead of Lauda.