Formula 1 has its own Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes battle

The battle among the top two Formula 1 world championship contenders resembles that of NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.

The fourth race of the 2021 Formula 1 season came and went with yet another episode of the clash between arguably the greatest driver in the history of the sport and arguably the best young talent the sport has ever seen: the 36-year-old Lewis Hamilton and the 23-year-old Max Verstappen.

Each of the season’s first four races has seen its own twists and turns, but all four events have resulted in a 1-2 finish for the sport’s two world championship contenders.

Entering the 2021 season, the battle between Mercedes and Red Bull, specifically between Hamilton and Verstappen, was billed to be as good as any battle that Formula 1 has ever seen.

More from Formula One

• Formula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024
• Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?
• Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s future
• Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season
• Formula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points

While Mercedes were, as usual, underrated and given an undeserved “underdog” label, despite comfortably winning the last seven world championships, the start of the season has proven to be just as good as we thought it would be, leaving fans wanting more.

Fortunately, we could get as many as 19 more episodes before the hardware is handed out at the end of the year. In Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, it was Hamilton who prevailed after a late pass for the win, despite the fact that it was Verstappen who led 54 of the 66 laps around the 16-turn, 2.892-mile (4.654-kilometer) road course in Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain.

Hamilton has won three of the season’s first four races, all in a slightly different manner ahead of his chief rival, but the margin between the two drivers atop the driver standings is only 14 points, given the fact that neither driver has finished more than one spot ahead of the other yet this year.

The start of the 2021 season has been the best for both drivers throughout their careers, and every single one of their battles has been decided by no more than a few factors which could easily have gone either way: track limits, tire strategies, you name it.

Yet as good as Verstappen has proven to be, winning and running up front while the second Red Bull car is still seeking its first truly competitive race in three years, Hamilton continues to prove that his continued success has been more about his talent behind the wheel than it has been about his machinery.

As much as Verstappen wants to win this year’s world championship, and as deserving as he is of having that opportunity, getting the opportunity to watch Hamilton do his thing and learn from him could perhaps serve him better years down the road when he is the one breaking records.

While Verstappen, as talented as he is, is still learning the ropes when it comes to competing with the best, Hamilton continues to either not make mistakes or minimize the few he does make from time to time.

In a way, it’s almost like Formula 1’s own Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes quarterback battle. There are more similarities than you may think.

After four Super Bowl rings, Brady was thought by many to be the greatest of all-time. After a rally from 28-3 resulted in his fifth, those who doubted became believers.

Two rings later, and with two different teams, the debate is over — so much so that it probably wouldn’t have mattered to the 43-year-old if his latest Lombardi Trophy ended up in the drink.

But many also consider Mahomes as an early entrant to potentially challenge that statement and take that title from the New England Patriots-turned Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, and justifiably so.

He burst onto the scene in his first year as a starter with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018 and produced just the second season in NFL history with at least 5,000 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns, earning league MVP honors for his achievement.

There’s no doubt that the 25-year-old Mahomes has the talent to do it, much like there’s no doubt that Verstappen has the talent to become Formula 1’s greatest driver ever — an early entrant to challenge Hamilton, if you will.

Mahomes could retire right now and be a Hall of Famer, the same way Verstappen could retire right now and easily be considered among the top 20-25 Formula 1 drivers ever. But the potential for much more is still there for both.

Mahomes and Brady have had their battles over the years, with each winning multiple times since they first met back in the 2018 season. Mahomes took his first career loss as a starter in a 43-40 Chiefs loss to the Patriots back in 2018.

Verstappen and Hamilton have had theirs as well, with each winning on multiple occasions. Believe it or not, despite Hamilton’s dominance, winning championship after championship, Verstappen has managed to win multiple races in four straight seasons (probably five here very shortly), and his career win total is already up to 11.

The only difference here is that Mahomes does actually have a Super Bowl ring, and Super Bowl MVP honors to boot, while Verstappen is still seeking his first world championship. What’s interesting is that you could still liken Mahomes’s ring to Verstappen’s success in a way.

Mahomes beat Jimmy Garoppolo, who had been Brady’s backup in New England, in his second season as a starter and his first Super Bowl appearance against the San Francisco 49ers. Now Verstappen has finally managed to vault himself ahead of Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, in the other Mercedes after finishing in third place behind both Silver Arrows two years in a row.

But the two seven-time champions have shown that while they aren’t perfect, there is much more to being defeated than simply being beaten from time to time.

Despite the occasional loss, neither one has yet to come close to being dethroned by his younger rival, and there is no telling when that may change.

As much as we want to hype up the young guys and the young movement or the “changing of the guard”, we are reminded that the old guys are still the GOAT for more reasons than one.

Mahomes fans and Verstappen fans can empathize.

All we heard about all offseason was the supposed rift between Hamilton and Mercedes, with the former reportedly considering retirement and the latter reportedly willing to hire a cheaper option in George Russell in his place.

Four rings ago, all we ever heard about Brady was how he was “on the decline”. Even now, that talking point is still brought up.

Throughout his entire first year in Tampa and the growing pains that came with it, there was nonstop talk about how the move wouldn’t work out, that this wasn’t the Brady we once knew, that he needed Bill Belichick to succeed, that he and head coach Bruce Arians wouldn’t get along, that he was a system quarterback, etc. — everything most fans knew to expect leading up to his seventh Super Bowl win in 10 appearances.

Yet Hamilton continues to outperform Verstappen as he edges closer to a record eighth world championship, and both of Brady’s playoff matchups against Mahomes, an AFC championship game with the Patriots and this past February’s Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, have resulted in victories for the man still undefeated against Father Time.

It will be interesting to see if the torch is passed in either battle on the battlefield, or if it will take retirement from Brady and Hamilton for Mahomes and Verstappen to truly ascend to the top of the mountain. But regardless of the method, it looks like it still may be quite awhile before it gets passed.