SUMMARY
- Lewis Hamitlon recalls his rivalry with Sebastian Vettel as the most enjoyable.
- Hamilton and Vettel shared a intense rivalry during 2017 and 2018.
Over the years, Lewis Hamilton has raced against a number of capable drivers. Winning 7 Championships does not come without some entertaining battles with some of the best drivers in the world. We have seen the British driver battle for Championships against, Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, and a lot more drivers. However, his rivalry with one of these stood out for Hamilton.
Sebastian Vettel was one of the most loved drivers in modern F1. The German driver was at the top of the world from the 2010 season to the 2013 season. During this time, he won 4 consecutive Championships with Red Bull Racing. After the 2014 season, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Michael Schumacher and try to emulate his success with Ferrari. Although he was not able to do so, he did have some interesting battles with Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton’s rivalry with Sebastian Vettel was enjoyable
Back in 2007 and 2008, Lewis Hamilton was one of the fastest drivers on the grid with the fastest car. While he was in front fighting for the Championships, Sebastian Vettel was still working his way to the top. In 2010, Red Bull finally built a competitive car to challenge for the Championship. However, McLaren was struggling at this time.
Vettel and Hamilton were never able to properly fight against each other for the Championship until the 2015 season. For the 2015 season, Vettel had just joined Ferrari. Although he was able to compete for race wins, he wasn’t able to do so on a consistent basis. This allowed Hamilton to win the Championship quite conveniently.
In the 2017 season, Sebastian Vettel was the only driver who was capable of challenging Lewis. This led to several wheel-to-wheel battles between the 2 drivers. Hamilton recalled this rivalry was the most enjoyable in all his years of racing.
#F1 | Lewis Hamilton for WSI, asked who he has enjoyed competing against the most in his career.
“Sebastian Vettel. I’ve always enjoyed racing against him, every race has always been a gritty challenge.” pic.twitter.com/ZI9YLfIsNd
— deni (@fiagirly) January 13, 2024
“Sebastian Vettel. I’ve always enjoyed racing against him, every race has always been a gritty challenge.”
Although Vettel was never able to win the Championship, he gave Lewis a run for his money in 2017 and 2018. There were a few key races that allowed Lewis to jump ahead in the Championship. Since then, Lewis has been fighting against Max Verstappen for the Championship.
After the 2022 season, Vettel decided to call it a career and enjoy some well-earned time with his family. However, he has completely closed the door on racing. There is still a chance for him to come back to Formula 1 in some capacity. There were talks about him coming to Red Bull as an advisor, replacing Helmut Marko. However, the Austrian recently signed a contract extension with the team.
When Lewis Hamilton left Sebastian Vettel on read
Back when Lewis and Sebastian were fighting each other for the Championship, there was always a little bit of heat between them. One of the memorable moments was during the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
During the safety car period, Hamilton was ahead of Vettel as the drivers were preparing for the restart. While Hamilton slowed down his car while approaching a corner, Vettel did not expect him to slow down and ran into the back of his car. In retaliation, he drove up to the side of Lewis’ Mercedes and hit him on the side. This created a lot of controversy as to who was in the right. However, Vettel did get a penalty for this action.
There were other occasions where the rivalry between them got heated. However, this rivalry became a friendship between the 2 drivers. From the 2019 season, we started seeing a close friendship between the 2 drivers. Vettel was one of the first to congratulate Hamilton after he won his 7th Championship during the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix.
Everyone seeing Seb and Lewis catch up in Monaco 🥺 pic.twitter.com/nmaJhi1vvU
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) May 27, 2023
Even after retiring from the sport, Lewis and Vettel kept in touch. They regularly exchanged text messages. The 2 were seen embracing before the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix which was attended by the retired German driver. A few months back, Lewis shared a hilarious story here he left Vettel on read and forgot to reply to him. It doesn’t look like it was done intentionally. The 2 legends of motorsport continue to share a close friendship that could last for a long time.
We could see Vettel attend a few more Grand Prix in the upcoming season. Although F1 is not hosting the German Grand Prix, we could see him back in the paddock for the Monaco Grand Prix and a few others.