3 similarities between Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher's first F1 title triumphs

Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher: It's surreal to even think about how the more things change, the more they remain the same. Verstappen won his first championship last season against Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Schumacher, on the other hand, picked up his first title in 1994 going against Damon Hill.

It is, however, quite uncanny to notice how history repeats itself. The two drivers, polarizing as they may be, had many similarities in the way they won their first titles. In this piece, we take a look at the three similarities between Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher's maiden F1 title triumphs.

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Max Verstappen vs Michael Schumacher's first F1 titles: How similar are they?

#1 Both had their driving standards questioned

Michael Schumacher in his early years was a force of nature. He was, in essence, the true heir to Ayrton Senna's throne, both with the natural talent that he possessed and with his driving style. The German never gave an inch on the track and was very hard to race with.

Many a time, wittingly or unwittingly, he pushed the boundaries a bit too much and got penalized for this as well. For instance, at the 1994 British GP, Schumacher was given a five-second stop-go penalty for passing Damon Hill on the parade lap, which he chose to ignore. Because of this, the German was not only disqualified from that race, he was given a two-race ban as well.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen's aggressive driving has raised quite a few eyebrows ever since he made his debut in F1. During the 2021 season as well, the incidents at Monza (where he crashed with Lewis Hamilton) and Sau Paulo (where he pushed Hamilton off the track), along with the drama at the Saudi Arabian GP raised a few alarms.

There were even suggestions by Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert that Verstappen could intentionally take Hamilton out of the race if that helps him win the championship.

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#2 Title deciders were controversial for both the drivers

The controversy around the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP is still brewing as fans wait for proper clarification by the FIA. In Max Verstappen's case, the 2021 F1 title was almost out of his hands at the last race of the season. The late safety car and the subsequent questionable handling of the safety car restart by Michael Masi literally handed the title to Verstappen.

For Michael Schumacher, the controversy was somewhat different. In the last race of the season, while leading the race from Damon Hill, Schumacher would make a mistake early on lap 36 only to provide Hill the opportunity to take the lead.

Things, however, turned for the worse when Hill and Schumacher inadvertently clashed on that corner, retiring both cars and handing the latter his first title. The manner in which the German rejoined the track and crashed into Hill was suspicious, to say the least. The title battle had been decided by a collision in the last race of the season.

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#3 Both fended off a late-season charge from their rivals

There was a time when Michael Schumacher held a 27-point lead over Damon Hill (at the time 10 points were awarded for a win). Hill, driving a somewhat superior Williams machinery, however, would reach the last race of the season by cutting down the points gap to just one point by winning four of the last five races.

Max Verstappen faced a similar late-season charge from Lewis Hamilton in 2021. Heading into the final race of the season, the Briton had won three races on the trot. He was now level on points with the Dutchman heading into the season finale.