What do the stats say about the rivalry between Verstappen and Hamilton?

The current main rivalry is between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The two are often compared to other great drivers and their rivalries. Looking only at the distribution of the first two spots on the podium, the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg seems to have been the most visible.

Hamilton and Rosberg were on the top two steps of the podium together no less than 31 times. In the top three of this list, Hamilton appears every time. In fact, the seven-time world champion was on the podium 29 times with Verstappen on P1 & P2. The top three is completed by Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

The long seasons of today undeniably play an important role in these statistics. The legendary rivalry between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna is 'only' at number five on this list with 23 one-twos. This puts them at the same number of 1-2 finishes as Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. While these statistics don't say much about the excitement of the rivalry and how closely the drivers were matched, it does show which drivers drove themselves into the spotlight over the years.

For example, it appears that Lewis, although with the most podiums, also had many rivals or drivers next to him who were a clear number two. Michael Schumacher, also with a particularly large number of victories, is less often seen on the list, which shows that in his years it was less easy to predict who the number two was. We do see Schumacher in fourth place in this list with 25 one-twos with Rubens Barrichello.

With three more one-twos, it will be the most seen on the podium ever. In terms of mutual results, Verstappen is well behind with nine wins compared to twenty for Hamilton.