During his rookie season, Hamilton fell victim to Kimi Raikkonen\u2019s historic comeback<\/a>, losing out on the title by a single point. He shared second place with Fernando Alonso. <\/p>\n YEARCHAMPIONGAP2007Kimi Raikkonen12016Nico Rosberg52021Max Verstappen8Lewis Hamilton\u2019s biggest F1 title heartbreaks<\/p>\n In 2016, his battle with Mercedes<\/a> teammate Nico Rosberg went to the wire as he chipped away at the German\u2019s sizeable early lead. Rosberg ended up winning the title by just five points.<\/p>\n And most infamously, he surrendered the 2021 crown to Max Verstappen<\/a> on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton is still looking to correct that perceived injustice and cap off his career by overtaking Michael Schumacher at the top of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n F1 fans assess how Max Verstappen would have done in Lewis Hamilton\u2019s cars<\/p>\n With this in mind, F1 Oversteer asked fans how many titles Verstappen would have won in Hamilton\u2019s cars. Clearly, the 40-year-old hasn\u2019t always maximised a contending machinery, though the same could be said for virtually every elite driver.<\/p>\n Verstappen has already established himself as a legend of the sport by winning four championships. He\u2019s climbed to third on the all-time wins list behind Schumacher and Hamilton on 65.<\/p>\n Many of the fans who responded reckon that, in the hypothetical scenario, Verstappen would have collected nine championship trophies by now. One said Rosberg would have had \u2018no chance\u2019 against him in 2016, and that he would also have taken the Mercedes \u2018rocketship\u2019 all the way in 2021.<\/p>\n Another agreed that Verstappen would have flipped those two scripts while replicating Hamilton\u2019s existing triumphs. It was also pointed out that the Briton won his titles pre-cost cap, which has somewhat levelled the playing field.<\/p>\n A fellow Facebook user argued that, with Red Bull weakened by his absence, Verstappen wouldn\u2019t have been up against a formidable \u2018challenger\u2019.<\/p>\n Other responses included \u2018at least nine, if not more\u2019, and \u2018he would never have lost to Rosberg \u2013 nine easy titles\u2019. <\/p>\n Max Verstappen might be the best driver in F1 \u2013 but he\u2019ll never be the face of the sport<\/p>\n All of this is highly speculative, of course, but it highlights the growing debate within F1 circles. Few would dispute that Verstappen is the quickest driver on the current grid, but it could also be argued that he merits a place in the greatest of all time conversation.<\/p>\n![\"Max](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2215733222-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Kym Illman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n