MAX LETS RIP
‘Lewis tries to look cool, but he’s scared’
LEWIS HAMILTON may be 13 years Max Verstappen’s senior, but the 18-year- old Red Bull star has no qualms about accusing the three-time world champion of hypocrisy.
Verstappen said Hamilton had taken a blase attitude to questions of safety at recent races because he ‘wants to be cool’. The reality, says Verstappen, is different.
In Azerbaijan a fortnight ago, the Briton hit out at his fellow drivers, telling them to stop whining after several had voiced concerns.
‘These guys want it (the track) to be smoother than ever with no vibrations and no bumps and take all the character out of these tracks,’ said Hamilton. ‘They moan so much about so many things.’
Circuit design and safety have dominated the build-up in Austria too. The organisers have laid new asphalt for this year’s race and added larger kerbs at several corners. Verstappen felt the full effects of those yesterday as a collision with one saw him crash out of the first practice session.
Hamilton pulled no punches when asked about the changes. ‘I like older tracks with character,’ he said. ‘If they’ve ironed out the bumps they’ve taken away character as far as I’m concerned.’
But Verstappen believes Hamilton is playing to the gallery.
‘That’s what he (Hamilton) says in the media, but to his team it’s different,’ said the teenager, who went on to reveal a feisty exchange which took place in the drivers’ safety briefing in Baku. Nico Rosberg alleged Hamilton had been so consumed by fear on the Baku City Circuit that it brought him to the point of an entirely different kind of accident.
‘In the media he (Hamilton) says he doesn’t care,’ explained Verstappen. ‘But I had an incident in the briefing (in Baku) when I said the pit entry was tricky. He [ Lewis] was like, “Oh, you shouldn’t bother about it”. Then Nico jumped in and said, “Wait Lewis, you just said (in Mercedes’ team briefing) you were getting a turtlehead when entering the pitlane”. So what is this approach? Maybe he wants to be cool.’
Asked to corroborate the tale, several drivers, Rosberg and Jenson Button included, responded uniformly with a wry smile and a ‘no comment’.
Verstappen, though, is happy to take on Hamilton. ‘I don’t care,’ he added. ‘ I’m definitely not afraid. He’s won world championships, but you can go against him.’
The Mercedes duo have been cautious since they collided on the first lap and crashed out of the Spanish Grand Prix — which Verstappen won — four races ago.
Rosberg said: ‘ We’re trying to keep a good spirit in the team. Some things are better not to share, better to keep internal.’
The Baku incident proves the atmosphere between the pair remains tense and understandably so. The momentum is with Rosberg, who took advantage of Hamilton’s engine problems to win in Baku and extend his championship lead to 24 points.
A third straight win here for the German would pile the pressure on Hamilton ahead of his home race at Silverstone next weekend.
Rosberg made the perfect start, topping the timesheets in both of yesterday’s practice sessions.