Ham-Max rivalry will be served hot in 2022

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will be favourites to engage in a battle of the champions this season, with their fierce rivalry last year setting the stage for an equally charged duel to headline a new-look Formula One in 2022.

The battle of the generations between Hamilton, 36, and his Red Bull nemesis Verstappen ignited fresh interest in the sport as it captured the imaginations of fans new and old around the world. Verstappen prevailed, clinching his first ever title to take his place among the pantheon of Formula One's champions.

But the intense battle between the pair elevated them into a league of their own as they headed into the final race of a record 22-round season dead-even on points. The winter break will not have cooled either driver's desire to best the other in 2022. Formula One is set for sweeping rule changes in 2022, with the cars significantly redesigned to deliver better racing.

Rules overhauls normally shake-up the competitive order and could do all the more so this time around, with teams finishing lower in the constructors' tables getting more development time for their 2022 cars.

This could pave the way for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, to jump back to the front or could see Renault-owned Alpine with double world champion Fernando Alonso behind the wheel back in contention.

If Red Bull and Mercedes, who clinched the constructors' crown for an unprecedented eighth time in a row last year, remain the teams to beat, there is no guarantee they will be as closely matched.

"I think that we've all known that big regulation changes [are] coming for 2022 and we've applied our resource accordingly. But we will only see when we come back in a couple of months' time, with completely new cars … who's got it right, who's got it wrong and then it all starts again," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.