‘Mad Max’ ready to resume battle
FEUD: SILVERSTONE CRASH FALLOUT WILL STILL LINGER
It took a while for Max Verstappen’s Red Bull to be cleared off the Silverstone track at Sunday’s British Grand Prix, but the fallout from his crash with Lewis Hamilton will linger for the rest of the Formula One season.
“It always takes two to tango, and these two are not giving each other an inch,” said Toto Wolff, Hamilton’s boss at Mercedes.
The stewards agreed, judging Hamilton “predominantly” rather than “wholly” responsible and imposing a relatively light 10-second penalty and the delay to the race allowed Mercedes to repair Hamilton’s car.
While he served his penalty in a pit stop and then hunted down leader Charles Leclerc to win the race, Verstappen went for medical checks.
From the hospital, Verstappen hit back on social media accusing Hamilton of “dangerous” and “disrespectful and unsportsmanlike” behaviour in his celebrations.
Red Bull said their driver was given the all-clear to leave “without any major injuries” late on Sunday.
Hamilton meanwhile told the pit-lane microphones Verstappen was the problem.
“I don’t feel he needs to be aggressive as he is,” he said. “I would never back down from anyone. I will not be bullied into being less aggressive.”
The social media barbs quickly took a nasty turn with racist insults aimed at Hamilton which Mercedes as Red Bull united to condemn.
“We are disgusted and saddened to witness the racist abuse Lewis suffered,” they said.
The accident at over 300 km/h is a sign that the rivalry between Hamilton and Verstappen is growing serious.
While “Mad Max” has been in Formula One since 2015, this is the first season he has threatened to wrest the crown from seven-time world champion “King Lewis”.
“This is a championship where the greatest driver of all time, a seven-time world champion is fighting with a tool that is maybe not as good as the other car, driven by an up and coming star who is trying to make his mark,” said Wolff. –