The 2021 campaign has brought the most fiercely competitive battle to be crowned Formula One world champion in recent memory.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have held something of a monopoly over the ultimate prize in recent years but Red Bull have been developing their own gem who could dominate the sport for years to come.
Max Verstappen may only be 23 but he’s already showing that he has the ability to challenge the 36-year-old Hamilton all the way until the end of the campaign.
Their rivalry is getting more intense by the week and that’s largely down to just how competitive both men are as they look to win the drivers’ championship.
Here are the key moments from the battle between Hamilton and Verstappen as we move towards the business end of the campaign.
Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: April 18, 2021
A clean battle between Hamilton and Verstappen showed early signs of turning competitive as the Red Bull driver forced his rival wide following some late braking.
Hamilton found himself on the sausage kerb to avoid a big collision and Verstappen went on to win the race, despite starting two places behind the British driver.
Hamilton said after the race: “Max got a better start than me and then I think I was slightly ahead going into turn two but I was basically avoiding us coming together.
“Max was just coming and coming and coming across.
“Of course, we had that touch and I had to use the exit, take those big kerbs but I’m grateful I just got it through it.”
Spanish Grand Prix: May 9, 2021
Verstappen and Hamilton begun on the front line and made an equally good start to the race.
The Red Bull driver took a more assertive route into the first corner, taking Hamilton by surprise and forcing him wide once again.
While Verstappen took the lead on this corner, Hamilton’s patience paid off in the end as he went on to win the race, explaining afterwards: “I just made sure I gave as much space as I could to Max,
“In my mind, it’s always a marathon, not a sprint, so I’m just always thinking the long game and sure, you could be a little bit more aggressive. Do I need to? Well, I’m in the position that I’m in because I don’t get too aggressive when I don’t need to be.”
British Grand Prix: July 18, 2021
This was the day when the rivalry between the two drivers really kicked up another gear.
Verstappen had really stolen a march in the quest to be crowned world champion after winning three grand prix in a row but a race at Silverstone was always going to bring added motivation for Hamilton.
Despite being armed with several Mercedes upgrades, Verstappen came out on top during the sprint qualifier.
Going into the race on Sunday, Hamilton was determined to come out on top and that resulted in some fiercely competitive racing in the early stages.
Going into a corner neither driver backed out of a wheel-to-wheel duel which ended with Verstappen’s rear right wheel and Hamilton’s front left colliding and sending the Dutch driver into the barriers.
Hamilton was deemed to be at fault for the collision and was handed a 10-second penalty which he served before going on to win the race.
With Verstappen retired due to damage to his car, the Red Bull driver was furious, saying on social media: “Obviously very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us in any way and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track.
“Watching the celebrations after the race while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour.”
Hamilton replied, saying: “I just don’t feel like he needs to be as aggressive as he is.
“We are going down to Turn Six and he’s bumping wheels with me. I was quite a long way up the inside into Nine and none of us backed out and that was the end result.
“I’ve managed for a long time without colliding with someone but when someone is just too aggressive these things are bound to happen.”
Italian Grand Prix: September 12, 2021
After losing and then reclaiming his place at the top of the drivers’ championship, Verstappen’s rivalry with Hamilton was really getting intense.
Another sprint qualifier saw the Red Bull driver head into the race in pole position while Hamilton was fourth.
A pit-stop mishap midway through the race put the drivers on a collision course as Hamilton emerged from the pit lane with Verstappen coming up fast on the straight.
The British driver came out alongside Verstappen and while the Dutchman had just enough room to get around the first corner as they drove wheel-to-wheel, the Red Bull man was squeezed going into the next and after choosing not to bail out of the duel the two cars collided.
Verstappen was pushed onto the sausage kerb after the collision between his rear right tyre and Hamilton’s rear left and that flung the Red Bull car into the air before landing on top of the Mercedes’ halo protection device.
Both drivers were forced to retire from the race as a result.
Red Bull described the crash as ‘a racing incident’ while Mercedes team principle Toto Wolff described it as ‘a tactical foul’ by Verstappen.
After the race, Hamilton said: “He just didn’t want to give way today.
He knew when he was going into Turn 2 what was going to happen, he knew he was going over the kerb but still did it.”
Verstappen also gave his version of events, saying: “I didn’t expect him to just keep on squeezing, squeezing, squeezing, because he didn’t even need to.
“He just kept on pushing me wider and wider and at one point there was nowhere to go.
“You need two people to work together to make a corner.”
In the end it was deemed that Verstappen was ‘predominantly to blame’ and as a result was handed a three-place grid penalty for the next F1 race, the Russian Grand Prix.