sport news Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are battling for the F1 title but keep ...

sport news Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are battling for the F1 title but keep ...
sport news Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are battling for the F1 title but keep ...

For all the relief that Lewis Hamilton escaped serious injury at Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, another collision between the reigning champion and standings leader Max Verstappen was hardly difficult to imagine in the build-up to their latest clash.

In their first altercation since the scene-stealing controversy of the British Grand Prix in July, when Hamilton sent Verstappen hurtling off the track at Silverstone in an incident that caused a fierce row, Hamilton was forced off at the second chicane in Monza.

With less than half of the race gone, the pair then locked wheels in a spin that sent the Red Bull vehicle landing sickeningly close to Hamilton's head.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's rivalry took another twist after Sunday's latest crash

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's rivalry took another twist after Sunday's latest crash 

The fierce rivalry evokes memories of Alain Prost (L) and Ayrton Senna more than 30 years ago

The fierce rivalry evokes memories of Alain Prost (L) and Ayrton Senna more than 30 years ago

This is a contest that is dynamite for Formula One. For many, it possesses a throwback quality to some of the blockbuster rivalries of the past – the most immediately recognisable of which is Ayrton Senna's bitter feud with Alain Prost.

While the dangerous consequences play out on the track, the war of words is arguably the aspect that infuses the most drama into the sport's showdowns between reliably uncompromising personalities.

Prost and Senna's hostility worsened considerably before it eventually improved. Their almost unfailingly tense time as team-mates at McLaren-Honda in the 1988 and 1989 seasons culminated in the chaotic ding-dong battle of the Japanese Grand Prix in their second year together, when Senna's reckless attempt to keep his championship hopes alive resulted in him taking out Prost and being disqualified. 

One of Prost (R) and Senna's (L) most memorable moments came in their clash in Japan in 1989

One of Prost (R) and Senna's (L) most memorable moments came in their clash in Japan in 1989

Senna was pushed by marshals after a collision with champion Prost before being disqualified

Senna was pushed by marshals after a collision with champion Prost before being disqualified

Prost moved to Ferrari in 1990 but found himself in another Suzuka showdown with Senna that year. Then a three-time champion, he considered retirement after another collision with his Brazilian nemesis ended with both drivers on the gravel, ensuring that Senna took the title. 

Hamilton and Verstappen are yet to be quite as scathing of each other as Prost and Senna were – the Frenchman labelled his adversary 'disgusting' after that 1990 scandal – but their resentment for each other seems to be building race by race right now.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner remains incredulous over the British Grand Prix, when Verstappen flew into a barrier and was hospitalised as a consequence of perceived aggression from Hamilton, causing damage estimated by Horner to be worth

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