Lewis Hamilton denied acting with hostility towards his former championship Max Verstappen after the pair clashed in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
But the Mercedes driver believes Verstappen, who pipped him to the 2021 world championship in controversial circumstances, does not respond to him the same way.Both drivers were cleared over their collision while disputing third place in today’s race. Verstappen accused Hamilton of changing his direction in the braking zone, but the stewards ruled he had not, while stating Hamilton “could have done more” to prevent the collision.
Hamilton admitted defending his position on the way into the corner but said he left Verstappen room to avoid contact.
“We passed a backmarker, I got to the braking zone and then Max appeared to overtake the car behind me, so I moved over to defend. I left enough room in the inside, but Max locked up.
“He was going a different trajectory to me. I was going towards the corner and he came shooting across. It felt like a racing incident.
“It’s easy to make mistakes like that. So I don’t feel there should be any hostility. But of course, from his side, there always will be.”
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Mercedes won the previous two races in Austria and Britain, but Hamilton said he was surprised by how competitive they were in the high temperatures at the Hungaroring.
“Unfortunately, we’re still not, in hot conditions particularly – you saw in Austria and here – we’re not able to keep up with these guys. But in stint one, I was really surprised to see that I was able to hold on to Max. I wasn’t even having to push too hard to stay within a second, or around a second behind him.
“So I thought at that point that maybe I was in for a chance of at least fighting for that place. But then in the second stint, it was a bit of a disaster, it didn’t feel good and the true pace of the car started to show, I think, on those tyres.
“But we obviously got the undercut [on Verstappen] and track position is clearly key on this track. And I think that really ultimately made the difference.”
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2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Verstappen names Hungarian GP the most stressful moment of his title-winning year
- McLaren team orders “a new situation we’re inexperienced at handling” – Piastri
- Verstappen dismisses critics of “vocal” radio messages and late-night simracing
- Norris’ former McLaren team mates say he was right to give up win
- Mercedes surprised Hamilton’s car was “completely unscathed” in Verstappen clash
Edvaldo
21st July 2024, 19:30
It’s probably not even hostility, it’s just the way he drives.
w0o0dy
21st July 2024, 20:21
Hamilton, yes… He has a very long list of hitting people’s back tyres… It’s what he does.
MadMax (@madmax)
21st July 2024, 21:31
The crashkid crashed into HAM. Like he always tries to.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
21st July 2024, 21:46
That’s a false statement and you know it. Hamilton could have easily avoided contact as Max would have gone wide regardless. Lewis saw an opportunity and steered into Max.
MadMax (@madmax)
21st July 2024, 22:59
Thats wrong and you know it. If not blind you should be able to see, who locked up and crashed into the other car.
David BR (@david-br)
22nd July 2024, 1:00
@w0o0dy Even if true it would be no more than Verstappen did at Copse in 2021, when he turned in after observing Hamilton was on the inside. However, Hamilton didn’t steer into Verstappen in Hungary, he just didn’t take avoiding action when he saw Verstappen had lost control: he said himself, he ‘stayed still’. Clearly he wasn’t keen on doing Verstappen any favours. Wonder why.
Doh
23rd July 2024, 1:49
No actually, max usually can barely make the corner with those moves which looks like overtakes, soon he’s going to realise that the young guys aren’t going to back out and he’s going to crash more often. He’s already 2 crashes in since he’s had to start fighting for position more
powersteer (@powersteer)
24th July 2024, 1:42
The fan comments here are probably more toxic than Max’s driving on his worse day :D
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
22nd July 2024, 8:45
Check the footage again.. instead of waiting Lewis steers into the corner like Max isn’t there… But he knew and acknowledged that he knew. All he had to do was not turn in at that exact moment. But he chose to, so he deliberately chooses to make contact. In the old days that was a suspension.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd July 2024, 9:14
Hamilton made a decision half way through the 2021 season, that he was no longer going to yield to Max when there was a 50/50 situation.
Max knows this and he also knows that not only does he have to cope with the two McLaren’s at the moment been faster than him – but his old foe, who he knows is as good as him.
In addition, it’s feasible that Hamilton might be as fast as Max for the rest of the season – so that’s possible three drivers he’s going to be at his best to even get on the podium. Perhaps he realises his?
In reality, I think the RB will stay faster than the Mercs, but Max sees Hamilton, due to their great battles, with a bigger respect than the others – which in turn makes him more likely to do / day daft things, i.e. running off the track after overtaking him.
HerbertSteward (@madlewis)
22nd July 2024, 9:09
You’re ultra biased and you know it.
It was a race incident and you know it.
Hamilton could’ve done a better job avoiding Max and you know it.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
22nd July 2024, 21:15
Extremely biased… Ok, what is Lewis ‘s left hand doing out of the cockpit? He’s steering right, that’s what!
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
22nd July 2024, 21:27
I have 2 screenshots and it is clear as day. On the one you can barely see his left hand over the edge of the cockpit. About half a second later you can almost see his whole glove. Only one possible reason for this. Lewis increased the steering angle in order to hit Max on the rear tyre!
It’s pathetic and amaturistic that the stewards choose to let this go. Even though a penalty for Max could have been justified. So why not punish both?
mystic one (@mysticus)
21st July 2024, 23:33
@w0o0dy MV has a whole career based on squeezing pushing and crashing people when he is not leading 10 sec ahead. he even has a history of racing people who are a lap down and has 0 intensive to race them, he still does and crash.
in the incident, mv tried to exploit ham’s lapping a car and coming off racing line, but he didnt do anything wrong overtaking a car who instead of moving the racing line, moved to racing line, so ham had to go off and on the line. he took regular line, where as max tried to exploit the situation, and dive bomb and never intended to make the corner, if he did, he would be on the apex, not 2 cars out from the apex! he purposely did that, similar to silverstone 21, and luckily for lewis or unfortunately for max however you look at it, max came off worse! i think max deserved a penalty just for the sake of scrap talking like a child over the radio constantly!
CarWars (@maxv)
22nd July 2024, 10:18
Hamilton doesnt seem to have the full awareness of the car size in many of these instances. All in all a race incident.
barry mead
22nd July 2024, 0:08
Go ahead and list them, but let’s be objective and not colour out vision with what’s lies.
Earlier in the race Max had made his typical brash move and overshot and ran himself out of track.
And historically we do know Max is more aggressive the more frustration he feels and you cannot claim he was clear headed today by any means.
Now what’s absolutely indisputable is, Lewis left space, more than a cars width.
Had Max approached slower he could have gone with the turn but as the multiple angles show he was set to pull across Lewis, and that’s a typical Max tactic, not just for Lewis but across every single year he has raced, the moment his nose is ahead he cuts across to force them to lift off or drive wide.
The way he was angled, where he came down, it proves his intent.
But if that’s not enough…
Lewis HAS to turn, the other option is run wider, and if you’re forced to that’s not something you permit vice versa nor is it permitted in the rules.
So Lewis holds his turn which he clearly doesn’t turn any harder or faster than any other lap.
If that’s still not enough, the telemetry said he did what he did all other laps and Max didn’t.
If Max did, and RB were even 1% in doubt they’d be protesting.
All Lewis could do more would have been lift off, however had he done so, Max would have his exhaust in his face forcing a brake or crash and more likely given their proximity, brake and swerve costing Lewis two spots.
It doesn’t matter how much you hate Lewis those are observations from the actual race and the history of RB challenges and the stewards who you’ve NO evidence let alone proof, have any bias.
Plus we both know, had their position been reversed, you who emphatically blame Lewis now, would STILL blame him.
So Its not about who was at fault, it’s simply one driver was Lewis ergo you will blame him
David
23rd July 2024, 13:21
Exactly right.
Anthony
22nd July 2024, 16:03
Total nonsense re your comment on Hamilton. Verstappen is still the crashing machine, even after 3 WDCs. You would thought that Verstappen would ahve matured by now as a driver. No chance apparently.Just saying
SteveP
22nd July 2024, 17:42
Two WDCs, receipt of stolen goods, is not a win.
While RBR and his entourage continue to assure him that he can do no wrong, how can he know any different?
Anthony
22nd July 2024, 19:40
I stand corrected on the number of WDCs LOL, SteveP!!!
Mayrton
25th July 2024, 8:24
This is so classic Hamilton. He just can’t help himself and start off track antics again. Why on earth was there the necessity to add ‘but from his side there always…’? It will always be a sign of weakness if you have to fight part of your battle outside of the car, simply because it wouldn’t be needed if you can do your fighting on track. It is a sign of fear, acknowledgement of the position of the other and weakness from yourself. It is entertaining for the audience though yet, but maybe than it would be better to become an entertainer and not an athlete. Far better would be to simply ignore your opponent as you deem him irrelevant.
Mayrton
25th July 2024, 10:34
If he truly was such a good guy, he would have stated there is no hostility from his side and stop there. He can’t possibly know what Max thinks. Even when asked by journalist he should say: ‘you should ask Max, I can’t possibly know’. He is playing you all and successfully. This is the core of why I do not appreciate him as a person, only as a driver.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
21st July 2024, 19:43
Verstappen should have got a penalty. Locking up into a car is slam dunk. Way too lenient. He’s going to need to take out half the field before he gets a penalty. They’ve definitely made that red bull sturdy as I have no idea how he survived a dnf.
w0o0dy
21st July 2024, 20:26
Neither was deemed predominantly to blame as they both did wrong in equal measure. Max locked up (probably because Hamilton squeezed) and kind of lost control. Hamilton on the other hand knew Max came through, Max was Ahead and still he decided to steer into Max.. (I still feel he carries more of the blame but..). He didn’t act to avoid any accident, actually he increased the likelyhood by steering into Max with nowhere to go. So I my opinion Lewis got off lightly and Max got lucky.
N
21st July 2024, 20:35
Verstappen wasn’t blamed because he affected his own race while Hamilton’s wasn’t, there’s not a single chance the outcome is the same had Verstappen ripped off Hamilton’s front right corner.
AlanD
21st July 2024, 21:03
Wooody, you day Hamilton squeezed MV. Since MV had more than a car’s width of room, I don’t see how that can be a squeeze.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
21st July 2024, 21:49
Moving to the inside when the other car is braking late is squeezing regardless of the space available. It increases the chance of Max locking up, and that is fine as long as Lewis had kept distance between them (and he had lots of space to do so). But instead he chose to steer into the corner and hit Max. I still say it was a deliberate action from Lewis intenties to make Max go off.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
21st July 2024, 21:51
intentiesintendedDennis Bui
22nd July 2024, 3:36
by your logics, crashverstappen was the one to blame for silverstone 21? it is a corner and you have to slow down, make a turn, turn to make that corner which crashverstappen totally ignored that braking point, divebomb, locked up his brake. He never intended to make that corner but to crash into lewis! karma paid him well and more to come!
SteveP
22nd July 2024, 8:07
Every aspect looks like Max trying to force Lewis out wide, and since Max was going to have massive difficulty even coming close to making the corner the “wide” would have been “off”
That scenario would no doubt have been followed by a radio message about LH going off to gain advantage if Max was still behind after the corner. Seems rather like sim racing tactics, did Max forget to reset himself between 3am and the race start?
drmouse (@drmouse)
23rd July 2024, 11:53
So you must think that Silverstone ’21 was a racing incident, right? Given Hamilton got some understeer, so wasn’t in full control of his car, but Max moved to the inside while Lewis was braking late?
barry mead
22nd July 2024, 0:17
It works like this Lewis left OVER a cars width, Max came in too fast and angled so he’d miss the turn, that’s Lewis’s fault.
Or…Lewis should have checked his mirror and waved Max through by pulling over for a coffee then moving off once Max let him know it was ok.
Or..sure Max already had run himself out of road but this time despite being angled to do the same that’s Lewis at fault.
Or.. the telemetry shows no aggressive turn in and it is a corner so you’d expect a driver to turn on a corner, and NO replay shows anything but Lewis holding his line so…he should have driven straight and run off the road for Max
At the end of the day put Lewis in Max’s position it was his fault, let Max by and he doesn’t win, the haters will blame him for earlier and say Lewis cost him the win.
It doesn’t matter where they are it’s always Lewis’s fault and if he isn’t in the race, then someone else, if that’s not possible to blame, then the team.
At the end of the day, Max fans need to see their hypocrisy.
I’d put £100 that if you CGI a car swap and run all Max/Lewis incident for a Max fan and didn’t say when/where just said who is at fault they’d say Lewis, show them another set but this time with the right cars in the right position, they say Lewis because they neither know nor care who is actually at fault it’s simply they refuse to ever allow that Max could be
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
22nd July 2024, 23:01
Check the video’s again. Lewis clearly increases steering angle just before the impact to make sure he hits Max…
It’s impossible not to see unless you don’t want it to be so. Play it at 0,25 speed and you see him sawing to the right in order to hit Max.
MadMax (@madmax)
21st July 2024, 21:32
orange blindness
Red Andy (@red-andy)
22nd July 2024, 8:44
Where was Hamilton meant to go, though? If he doesn’t turn, he follows Max off the road, like a less controlled Brazil 2021 scenario, and they probably both lose positions. Bear in mind that he’s already fully committed on the brakes by the time Max comes steaming up the inside, so he doesn’t have the option to simply brake *more* and duck back underneath, as he might have done if Max had arrived a bit earlier.
Anthony
22nd July 2024, 17:41
Total nonsense re your comment on Hamilton. Verstappen is still the crashing machine, even after 3 WDCs. You would thought that Verstappen would have matured by now as a driver. No chance apparently. Just saying
Johnny Five
21st July 2024, 19:45
It’s nothing personal, Lewis, he treats all the other drivers as obstructions to be removed.
w0o0dy
21st July 2024, 20:27
Long list of hitting back wheels. It’s become somewhat of a skill by now.
Dennis Bui
22nd July 2024, 3:33
are you that desperate to go everywhere and blame lewis? even blind could see how crashverstappen ignored braking, divebomb torpedoing and shoot across the corner.
Anthony W. Bailey
22nd July 2024, 17:42
Amen LOL
Applebook
23rd July 2024, 2:33
Max was fuming that for the second straight race, he was beaten by Lewis on the track.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
21st July 2024, 19:51
Will be music to McLarens ears if Max and Lewis start colliding again on a regular basis.
Shoes on the other foot these days with who has what to lose I suppose.
Patrick (@paeschli)
21st July 2024, 20:23
Anyone feel like Gianpiero Lambiase only made things worse by riling Max up?
N
21st July 2024, 20:27
It’s about time he stood up to Verstappen though, constantly being swore at. It was really refreshing to hear them bat away Verstappen’s complaint after the attempted Turn 2 pass and then for them to say they aren’t going to argue with another team over his divebomb was a real surprise, teams always back their driver over the radio regardless, today though, they had enough.
Postreader
21st July 2024, 20:48
Max was seeing red mist the entire race and seething on the radio. At some point, the person o the other side of the radio will be contaminated by that was well.
SkinnyWalla
22nd July 2024, 0:56
I get peoples point about Max constantly being disrespectful over the radio but as the race engineer he is not fighting other cars and in the heat of battle so any heat he should keep for after the race. Making snarky comments did not help calm Verstappen down. Hamilton is known to complain a lot over the radio but you’d never expect Bono to antagonize his driver.
SteveP
22nd July 2024, 8:10
Max is like my watch, self-winding.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd July 2024, 9:17
No.
I thought it was refreshing that someone in the RB box brought him down to earth for once.
Yes, we know that him, Hamilton and Alonso – geniuses that they are, have all had memorable fraught moments. However, the latter two have never got away with moaning about the team, when the things aren’t right, for so long.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
21st July 2024, 21:12
Max is hostile towards his friend Lando – he cost him the victory today with another ridiculous attempt to overtake. Imagine if they weren’t friends…
PB
21st July 2024, 22:44
“I was going towards the corner and he came shooting across”
He threw it up the inside, locked his wheels lost control of the car and had no hope of making the turn.
Hence, he also clipped Hamilton who WAS making the corner.
Verstappen was as artless as someone who fails to brake and just points at the inside line in a computer game, taking out the AI.
The world was already fed up with Verstappen divebombing and missing apexes and running to the outside, but this case with full lock up and loss of control was particularly egregious and should have been punished.
Anthony
22nd July 2024, 18:19
Amen
MichaelN
21st July 2024, 22:49
It’s an easy win for Hamilton to make this comment noe, but he is also no stranger to taking things one step further when racing Verstappen.
Both of these guys contribute to their constant shenanigans.
Johnny
21st July 2024, 22:57
Except Max is dirty.
Find me one crash throughout his F1 career where Max has taken responsibility for it.
I can give you at least a half dozen off the top of my head where Hamilton has.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd July 2024, 9:22
In 2021 Hamilton responded to Max’s ‘overtaking tactics’ by publicly declaring that if that’s what is now allowed, i.e. bullying your way through, then he needed to react accordingly.
Hamilton, doesn’t do this with anyone else, i.e. defend aggressively (but fairly). Since 2011, he’s rarely been involved in controversies, but does apologise when he does, i.e. Brazil 2019 when he cost Albon victory and potentially a better career.
Tell us when Max apologises.
MichaelN
22nd July 2024, 9:35
Double check that with Rosberg. Hamilton had had his fair share of incidents with genuine competitors. There weren’t many of those for a long time, so like Verstappen in the last two seasons he felt no need to do anything questionable.
But it’s not a coincidence that there are meme-videos of Hamilton running half a dozen or more people off with his signature ‘oops understeer’ punts. When the pressure gets high, the Senna-tactics come out. He’s not that different from others. Even Button had his moments. Räikkönen and before that Häkkinen stand out as drivers who kept it gentlemanly.
Johnny
21st July 2024, 22:55
Nothing is ever Max’s fault, it’s what Max says and RedBull echoes.
It’s also laughable that he was blaming Hamilton for what HE was actually doing to Lando in Austria, oh the hypocrisy. RedBull and Max, perfect together.
Skett
21st July 2024, 23:20
Normally I would agree with you, but even Horner didn’t want to back Max up on that one!
CarWars (@maxv)
22nd July 2024, 10:47
Max (and others) adapts to the rule makers. Cant blame him for the rule makers not being consistent. He gets a penalty in Austria for something he was able too totally avoid the year before with Sainz, being on the receiving end of it. Its just the build up being different and swaying the “refs” opinion.
Then next time someone else does it Max expects a penalty, in a light version now Hamilton did a similar move although mirrored to the inside (and Max did a Lando divebomb, because supposedly those are ok..). Even Hamilton adepts to the new set grey area of the “moving under braking”: they dont move under braking, just before braking they set a squeezing trajectory that will force the other driver to adjust or face the collision.
Its even in terms of rules the pinnacle of motorsport with these guys, driving at the edge. Its too bad the rule makers are like football VAR and fifa/uefa, daft, inconsistent and can barely keep up. Look how long we had to suffer track limits nonsense..
Like commented before a lot of this can also again be solved by just letting them race and adjusting the tracks. Austria and Hungary just need a few more gravel traps. The running around at full speed at corner 1 wouldnt happen, the dive bombs wouldnt happen as late and deep, Max would have beached, that is too much of a risk to take, so they avoid it by track nature.
F1 rule makers just cant keep up with the heights of its competitors like Hamilton, Max and Lando.
Overall we see great racing and emotion, lets keep the too stringent rules away and let em race. And build better tracks.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
21st July 2024, 23:02
How was this different than Silverstone when Red Bull was calling for HAM to get banned from a race?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
22nd July 2024, 7:52
Max missed the apex by accident.
SteveP
22nd July 2024, 8:14
Max wasn’t aiming for the apex at any point.
Neither was Lewis – his aim was about 1.5 car widths out. Leaving space.
In Silverstone 21, Max did aim for the apex, with a car in the way
MichaelN
22nd July 2024, 9:28
He didn’t, as the stewards noted Halton had plenty of space to his inside. Hamilton took a much wider line than he did on pretty much any other lap. Even in the very same race he overtook Leclerc with the normal inside line. Why the sudden change of tactic? Only he really knows. But one can make a pretty good guess.
SteveP
22nd July 2024, 18:13
Go look at the video and look where Max’s car is pointing at the time of the collision.
Now, try to tell me and everyone here that he is not aiming at the apex kerb.
For Max, the move (some say “chop”) across the front of a rival is pretty much his signature move, a solid “back off or eat my gearbox”
He misjudged the distance on that occasion, or assumed Lewis would back off, either way it didn’t work.
Not “much wider”, just a car and a half – leaving space, you know, like drivers are supposed to do.
Patrick (@anunaki)
21st July 2024, 23:19
Max locked up because he had to steer under braking Just a racing incident and rightfully judged so by the stewards.
We want to see them race and sometimes that goes wrong.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd July 2024, 9:23
Correct.
Daft as Max was. It didn’t need a punishment.
Davethechicken
23rd July 2024, 15:27
The telemetry shows Max was also travelling faster at the point he hit the brakes than on previous laps due to drs.
He misjudged his braking. He braked too late for his speed.
He was offline on the marbles as well so was never going to make the apex even if he hadn’t locked up.
slowmo (@slowmo)
22nd July 2024, 0:48
I’ve had a think on this and I wonder if this might not be an element of Hamilton playing a canny game to ensure Verstappen didn’t get a penalty. The only people that would benefit from the penalty directly were Sainz and Ferrari who incidentally look like the main rivals to Mercedes this year with Red Bull and Mclaren being a little out of reach still. I doubt Hamilton cares too much about his own position but he’ll know what every point means to his team. By Hamilton not being aggrieved and to an extent he probably was happy enough with his third place it gave the stewards a easy climb down. I think they only investigated and summoned them because Verstappen complained.
David BR (@david-br)
22nd July 2024, 1:05
@slowmo Interesting idea, Hamilton’s remark that he ‘stayed still’ and his overall lack of complaining did seem to take the heat off Verstappen for the collision.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd July 2024, 9:25
I did like the Hamilton took the heat out of it, seeing it as a racing incident and looking perplexed that others didn’t see it that way.
He’s now playing the role as the cuddly uncle, taking all the young whippersnappers under his wing. That’s until he has a sniff of a win, that is!!
F180 (@f180)
22nd July 2024, 1:47
If the incident were between Alonso and Hamilton, Alonso would have been penalized. No matter if Alonso was leading or chasing.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
22nd July 2024, 8:01
Alonso would probably have been penalised if he’d been the lapped car, too.
slowmo (@slowmo)
22nd July 2024, 9:05
There’s still time for Alonso to be penalised if new information comes to light
CarWars (@maxv)
22nd July 2024, 10:56
it was Ericson’s fault
slowmo (@slowmo)
22nd July 2024, 14:32
I blame Grosjean personally
An Sionnach
22nd July 2024, 12:57
I don’t agree with Lewis about the hostility in either direction. That remains to be seen for both of them. In this case, I don’t really care what Lewis did because Max’s move was from so far back and had no chance of success. This kind of dive-bombing move where the driver behind ends up parked on the apex blocking the racing line needs to be discouraged.
An Sionnach
22nd July 2024, 12:58
That is the case no matter who does it, even if they are L Norris.
grapmg
24th July 2024, 13:26
If in a controlled way and they make it stick then I love the dive bomb moves, why discourage them? A driver in front should defend the inside line or better switchback.
Paul Stuart Bernard
22nd July 2024, 16:45
For those stating Hamilton could have done more to avoid Max, Lewis was in the lead.
He chooses where he is going.
Your essentially enablers to Max’s ceed or crash driving mentality.
It isn’t up to Lewis to let Max through.
He committed to the corner and then seeing Max, made no further turning action.
Max, even with locking up and breaking heavily, still wasn’t making the corner inside of Lewis, with a full cars space down the inside.
Typical Max driving. He hits his opponent whilst trying to force them to give him the place or crash- they’ve now startes to call his bluff and now he actually has to compete we can expect to see an increase in his petualnt behaviour and off track excursions.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
24th July 2024, 6:02
Wrong footage is clear. Lewis increased steering angle just before impact to ensure he would hit Max’s back wheel. And it’s a typical Lewis move that the Fia continues to let him get away with (most of the time)
Ajaxn
22nd July 2024, 18:08
Any sensible and prudent champion would weigh up the risks and benefits, and then hold muster.
Verstappen is leading the Championship but by a huge margin, there was no reason for him to risk collision or risk a dnf. He was in the faster car with the faster tires, he just had to choose his moment. Instead of using this rare opportunity to show he is the better driver, he resorts to doing what he always does. He attempted to bully the other driver off the track.
He isn’t the kind of driver to deftly ‘outfox’ the other driver {Alonso}, nor is he the kind of driver to set up the other driver with a series of predictable moves, and then do the unexpected {Hamilton}. There is no racecraft to Verstappen, except to send it down the inside, so the other car is forced to take avoiding actions or crash into him {Shumacher}. His idea of racecraft is to play chicken with the other driver. I dare you.
Where most drivers will duel, ‘give and take’, Verstappen only wants to take, take, take.
This duel between the GOAT and the pretender will be replayed and seen in time as another defining moment in F1.
If you saw this in a movie theatre you and the rest of that audience would be cheering the hero getting one over on that bully.
Anthony
22nd July 2024, 18:23
Well said, Ajaxn, well said !!!
Ajaxn
22nd July 2024, 18:15
BTW was this some kind of record? The most laps with DRS behind and another car and still not make the overtake stick.
PB
22nd July 2024, 21:02
The entire race was unfairly rigged against Max.
The track moved towards the apex in his braking zone.
I blame the FIA !