Max Verstappen wasn’t afraid to fire back at Lewis Hamilton over comments he made following last Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion praised “sensible” Charles Leclerc at Silverstone, describing his “great battle” as “a lot different to what I experienced last year”.
Of course, that was a reference to the collision between Hamilton and Verstappen at Copse on the opening lap, which ended with the Dutchman suffering a 51G impact with the barriers.
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A year on, Lewis found himself side-by-side with Leclerc approaching the same corner, but this time both drivers raced cleanly as the Ferrari swept passed around the outside.
“I think it’s great that, when you’re 37 years old, at some point you understand how to get to an apex,” Verstappen jokingly told Dutch journalist Erik van Haren.
“He does learn, so that’s positive for the younger drivers: when you’re 37 you are still always learning!
“You can clearly see it in the images, of course. Charles gave him less space than I did last year, so that says enough. Moreover, he received a penalty last year, so you should not talk about that.”
As for this weekend’s Austrian GP, the reigning champion is aiming for a third straight win at the Red Bull Ring after winning both races last year.
A result that would certainly be a good pick-me-up after Verstappen’s tough Sunday at Silverstone.
“I mean, these things happen,” he said after damage meant he limped home in P7.
“You know, I’ve had a lot of good things, a lot of bad things happen, so you just deal with it and I mean, you cannot change it anyway.
“I’m just looking forward to being here, we’ve had a lot of good results here in the past and I’m just very excited to see all the fans here as well and just have a good weekend.
“You know, up until this year I never understood why we were quick here because it never really suited our package because of the long straights basically,” Max added.
“Of course, there was a bit of altitude involved and I think the Honda engine is pretty good at altitude. But yes, this year we have to wait and see.
“We’ve been quick on the straights but in high-speed, Ferrari and Mercedes have been really competitive so we have to wait and see how quick we’re going to be. But I’m just very excited for the whole weekend.”
