“It’s an iconic trio. I don’t know if it was like this before.”

On Sunday, for the second time after Australia, we saw the three current world champions, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, stand on the podium together. A total of 11 world championship titles and 176 race victories smashed the champagne after the Canadian Grand Prix, three greats from three generations who, although they’ve been racing together in F1 for some time, have never put up a fight, especially not at the top of the field.

Authority commands the numbers, and in the post-competition press conference it was also revealed that there was mutual respect between the members of the trio.

“I remember watching the two racing against each other as a kid in Formula One, and I’m glad I’m in Formula 1 now too. Competing with them is probably the best thing there is.” Verstappen said of his rivals. “When we stand on the podium together—we’ve been together a few times now—it’s great. Of course, they obviously want to change places, but I’m happy here in the middle!” he added, laughing.

Alonso was also Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren in 2007, but Verstappen has rarely been considered a direct opponent in recent years. “That’s fine and great. I really enjoy these fights and these platforms” said the Spanish veteran.

“Serious respect, a lot of talent – that’s what the fight against Max and Louis is about. You know you can’t make a mistake because they take advantage and make no mistake. So if you want to beat them, you have to drive to tenths, you have to be the fastest to catch up. It’s An intense fight, very athletic, and very respectful.”

“When I bested Lewis with the DRS, I knew I could trust him to defend hard while staying within bounds. It was the same in the beginning: When you start with these two guys from the front lines, you know they look out for each other, and you’ll get respect, which you might not. You always get it another way.” The Aston Martin driver explained.

Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Photo: XPB)

Together, Hamilton concluded, they form a unique and remarkable trio. “I agree with Fernando: it’s a great honor to fight them, they have had an incredible success.”

“It’s an iconic trio. I don’t know if there was a trio like this before. I doubt there was.”

said the Mercedes driver.

But he added that he would enjoy a closer fight more. “I hope there will be more to come. As Fernando said, we have a lot of respect for each other, and while we fight each other closely, we can also trust each other. I really hope that at some point we will have more fighting with our cars, and then We can run a more exciting race in the future.” Hamilton concluded.