Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen: Inside the bitter rivalries fuelling epic F1 spectacle

Hours after the other teams had departed the Interlagos paddock Hamilton and his colleagues sat in the team’s garage, eating sandwiches taken from the hospitality area. The reason for the impromptu late-night picnic? They were waiting for the outcome of an investigation by the FIA, the sport’s governing body, into a claim that their drag reduction system (DRS, the device on the rear wing that opens to let the air through, creating less resistance and therefore increasing speed) had opened beyond the permitted limit.

They were not the only ones eagerly waiting to hear. Their bitter rivals Red Bull were also wrapped up in this.

The drama had started hours earlier, even before Hamilton had set the fastest time in qualifying on Friday.

The Mercedes straight-line speed had caused some raised eyebrows in the paddock, and an hour before qualifying Red Bull visited the FIA armed with a pile of videos and data to raise concerns that something was amiss at the back of the world champion’s car.

Red Bull’s behaviour set the tone for the weekend: the rivalry that has been building between the two teams, their star drivers and their principals would intensify: the gloves were coming off.

The investigation into Mercedes rumbled on until the sport’s police decided to adjourn on Friday night. At 10pm Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, Angela Cullen, Hamilton’s physio and right-hand woman, and a few others from the team, were heading back to their hotel.

At the French Grand Prix, Mercedes raised concerns that Red Bull had a “flexi rear wing”. In Brazil, Red Bull suspected that Mercedes had something similar, and so at 3pm on Friday Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s technical director, and Paul Monaghan, the team’s chief engineer, visited the stewards.

They argued that the wing was flexing more than allowed once it went above a certain speed. This would give the car an advantage in a straight line and, Red Bull thought, could explain why Mercedes had such a quick car.

The stewards listened and, an hour later, true to form, Hamilton went quickest in qualifying by 0.4sec, a sizeable chunk on a track only 4.3km long.

Then, with the cars parked in parc fermé, a controlled zone with strict rules, Max Verstappen walked over to Hamilton’s car to examine it and touched it. While it is not unusual for drivers to inspect a rival car, touching any part of it in parc fermé is forbidden.

The FIA checks a selection of cars after sessions and, after qualifying, Hamilton’s Mercedes was picked for inspection. What officials found was not what Red Bull had expected. The Mercedes DRS failed to comply with the rules — it opened 0.2mm more than the 85mm allowed.

With their rear wing impounded by the FIA, Mercedes presented their case at 7.15pm. Ron Meadows, the Mercedes sporting director, and Simon Cole, the chief engineer trackside, spent almost an hour in front of the stewards. As the meeting drew to a close, amateur footage of Verstappen touching Hamilton’s rear wing emerged. Had his action affected the wing?

The Mercedes pair left and the stewards shifted their focus to Red Bull, but it was decided to adjourn. On Saturday morning it was the turn of Verstappen and Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull’s sporting director, to answer questions. Their meeting lasted 15 minutes and Verstappen looked relaxed as he emerged. He was tucking into his breakfast when Mercedes made their second trip to the stewards, at 10.30am.

Meadows and Cole were joined this time by the Mercedes chief designer, John Owen. Another hour of deliberations followed, leaving little time before final practice on Saturday afternoon

Minutes after the 60-minute session had finished, at 1.36pm, the email dropped to say that Verstappen’s touching of Hamilton’s rear wing was going to cost him €50,000 [about £42,000] but he had escaped any on-track penalty. For Verstappen, who earns more than £18 million a year, the sum was one to joke about. “They should buy a nice dinner with the money,” he said.

The outcome for Hamilton was more serious. Thirty minutes later he was informed that he was disqualified from qualifying and would be starting the sprint last on the grid. Mercedes’s reaction was said to be one of disbelief. The FIA had ruled that the DRS infringement was not deliberate but most likely because something had “gone wrong”. Yet it was still in breach and therefore the only outcome was disqualification.

Mercedes felt hard done by as they were not allowed to examine the rear wing and instead had to give it to the FIA. They have still not had it back.

It then emerged that Red Bull had had an issue with Verstappen’s rear wing and had made changes, despite being in parc fermé. Verstappen’s wing had been checked at the same time as Hamilton’s on Friday but had passed all checks. Under FIA rules, if something is deemed broken, it can be fixed.

At that point it looked bleak for Mercedes but what followed will go down in F1 folklore. Hamilton was outstanding in the sprint and again in winning Sunday’s race. Yet there was still one moment of drama. Hamilton was fighting Verstappen for the lead on lap 48 and as he made his move, Verstappen aggressively defended and pushed Hamilton wide, so wide that he also left the track.

The stewards decided against investigating. “Of course,” was Hamilton’s sarcastic response. Wolff described the lack of a penalty as “laughable”, while Christian Horner, the Red Bull principal, defended Verstappen. With three races to go in four weeks, there will be no let-up in the tension.

Rivals on the edge

Bahrain Grand Prix (March 28)

The season-opener set the tone as Hamilton and Verstappen went wheel to wheel. Verstappen got past but the stewards deemed he had done it off the track and was made to give the position back.

British Grand Prix (July 19)

The first of the three sprint races. With qualifying on Friday, Hamilton went quickest but Verstappen got past him on the first lap of the sprint to take the win and pole position for the race on Sunday. The pair went wheel to wheel through the first few corners and collided. Hamilton carried on but Verstappen hurtled off the track and into the barrier at 180mph. Hamilton was ruled to be “predominantly” to blame and given a ten-second penalty but still won.

Italian Grand Prix (September 12)

At the first chicane, Verstappen went wide, ran over a curb and was launched into the air. His Red Bull landed on top of Hamilton, with his right rear tyre striking the Briton’s helmet. Hamilton said his life was saved by the halo protection device. After the collision, Verstappen did not check on Hamilton, adding to the ill feeling. Verstappen was blamed and received a three-place grid penalty for the next race.

Brazilian Grand Prix (November 14)

Hamilton was effectively handed a 25-place grid penalty to be taken over the sprint on Saturday and race on Sunday. In one of his best drives, Hamilton passed Verstappen at the third attempt to win.

The final trio of grands prix – and who they suit

With three races remaining there are 78 points up for grabs: 25 points for a win and a bonus point for fastest lap if the driver is inside the top ten. If the fastest lap is set by someone outside the top ten no bonus is awarded. There are 18 points for second place and 15 for third so if Hamilton were to win the next two races with Verstappen second, Hamilton would go level on points with the Dutchman, depending on what happened with fastest-lap points.

Losail International Circuit

Qatar, November 21 at 2pm

Making its debut in F1, the track is best known for MotoGP and a new pit entry was needed to make it appropriate for F1. No single team has the advantage of having driven the Losail track before, so there will be a lot of work to do during the practice sessions. On paper, while the one long straight would seem to favour Mercedes, overall it is a technical track and better suited towards Red Bull’s car

Jeddah Corniche Circuit

Saudi Arabia, December 5 at 5.30pm

Another debutant, this street circuit in Jeddah is expected to be fast. It has similar characteristics to Azerbaijan, where Red Bull have always been strong, but much of the purpose built track is designed to be spent at full throttle, so Mercedes should come out on top here.

Yas Marina Circuit

Abu Dhabi, December 12 at 1pm

The likely championship-decider could go either way. Mercedes had dominated on Yas Island until last year when Verstappen ruled the roost in qualifying and in the race. This is traditionally not a good track for racing, but given the way this season has gone, one suspects there could be more than just fireworks at the chequered flag.

- The Times