Lewis Hamilton says there is 'a lot in common' with Max Verstappen, despite being 'ruthless' on track

Lewis Hamilton revealed that there is a lot of commonality between him and Max Verstappen. Despite being ruthless on track, the Briton claimed there is mutual respect between him and the Dutchman as individuals, as he spoke to Sky Sports during the Bahrain preseason test.

The Mercedes champion elaborated on his comments, saying:

“Me and Max, we see each other in the paddock, and things are normal. We’re two individual drivers. We have a lot of common in a sense of how much we love doing what we do and driving, then on the other side we’re ruthless.”

According to Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen shares a similar amount of passion for racing and driving. The Briton revealed that although both believe in competing ruthlessly with each other on the track, they share a cordial rapport in the paddock.

Describing the reasons for being ruthless and their effect on their mutual rapport, the Mercedes driver said:

“He is ruthless, I am. We are fighters out there, there’s no friends on track. It’s like when you go skiing, there’s no friends out there. Some days we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong. But I think what’s really important is that we’re human beings and that we do keep respect.”

Highlighting the need to be ruthless on-track, the Briton stressed the importance of their mutual respect off-track as well. The 37-year-old believes that there has been friction at times, but there is always a degree of respect in the paddock.

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Lewis Hamilton blamed the media for hyping negative dynamic between him and Max Verstappen

In a surprising revelation, the Mercedes driver blamed the media for hyping the drama and narrative between him and his Dutch rival. Highlighting the racial abuse after the Silverstone GP, the multiple world champion believes he doesn’t let the trolling and online negative trigger him into a mental spiral.

Speaking about his relationship with Verstappen and the online negativity, Lewis Hamilton said:

“Of course there’s so many nice comments and then there’s trolling, all these different things that people experience. If I had sat and read all the comments after Silverstone - the racial abuse - I could have downward spiralled to a negative place. I just don’t let that volatile medium control my life. You’ve got to be careful because obviously the way the media try to hype up the drama also creates a narrative for fans.”

While the dynamic between Hamilton and Verstappen was intense amidst the championship battle, the narrative in the media and on social media played a huge role in pressuring both of them throughout the season. Most TV pundits in the paddock believed the two genuinely had mutual respect as sporting talents despite the heated title battle in 2021.