Max Verstappen was unhappy with how Lewis Hamilton overtook him during Lap 1 at the Australian Grand Prix.
A poor start meant the Dutchman lost the lead to George Russell at the start, with Hamilton capitalising on Verstappen’s slow exit from Turn 1 to pounce at Turn 3.
While the move itself looked fairly standard, the two-time world champion claimed the Mercedes driver broke the agreed rules when racing wheel-to-wheel racing.
“From my side, I just tried to avoid contact,” he said.
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“It’s quite clear the rule, what is allowed to do, what you’re allowed to do now on the outside but, clearly, that’s not followed. But that’s OK, we had good pace and passed him anyway.
“But it’s something for the next race, just to take into account.”
The overtake was a somewhat rare recent moment of Hamilton and Verstappen battling without race-ending contact with each other.
Though the Red Bull driver admitted the superior pace of his RB19 at present meant he had a different calculus alongside Lewis.
“I think I was quite careful, I think I could have been a little bit more aggressive,” he said.
The @MercedesAMGF1 lads were on it from the get go! ⚡️?
What a start by @GeorgeRussell63 and @LewisHamilton! ?#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/zccvJleivb
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
“On the other hand, I didn’t want to have any damage on my car, because I knew that we had a quick car. So even losing one or two spots was not the end of the world.”
In response, the seven-time world champion quickly dismissed his 2021 rival’s complaints.
“I thought it was pretty decent,” Hamilton said. “I mean, he braked early and I braked late and I was fully up the inside and I think we both left space for each other.
“I didn’t run him off the road and he didn’t turn in on me so we didn’t touch and that’s racing.”