Sir Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in the British Grand Prix to end his winless streak. He had to wait 56 races to finally finish on the podium again. Moreover, it took the most successful driver in the sport 945 days to get to his 104th win. Meanwhile, Mercedes had lost its hegemony on the grid. They were no longer the most dominant team in the turbo-hybrid era. Before the 2024 British GP win, the seven-time champion had won in the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He remained winless for two seasons in a row. However, in his final season with the German outfit, Lewis Hamilton got back to winning ways.
Albeit he did not have a great start to the 2024 season, since the race in Silverstone, he has been looking like a top contender for the title. On the other hand, the three-time reigning champion and still the table topper, Max Verstappen, has been finding it hard to get back to winning ways lately. Then, in Hungary, the Dutch racer even showed his frustration over the team radio. Later, Lewis Hamilton commented that Verstappen should “Act like a World Champion.”
What Was The Reply Of Max Verstappen To Lewis Hamilton’s Comment?
Max Verstappen has been frustrated since he has been unable to take the fight to McLaren and Mercedes. In the last few races, Zak Brown and Toto Wolff’s teams have been dominating the grid. On the other hand, nothing seems to go in the favor of Christian Horner’s team. The Dutch racer had to give away P2 to Lando Norris after their battles in the opening lap in the Hungaroring circuit. Then, Red Bull had to undercut Verstappen twice in his pit stops. Very late in the race, he had a crash with Lewis Hamilton that led to his sweary conversation over the team radio. Later, he told his critics, “They could just f*** off.” Lewis Hamilton commented that it is essential to be a team leader. If not a team leader, Hamilton feels Max needs to try to be a good team member.
Then, he said, “You have to act at least like a World Champion.” Finally, Hamilton laughed as he said it is not like last weekend he was a World Champion. Recently, at Spa, Max Verstappen said, as per Viaplay, that everyone can have an opinion. However, he can’t really do anything about that. The Dutch racer said that it is not his problem. Adding to that, Max noted that things got resolved, and everybody just got on with it. Hence, there is no point in dwelling on it for a long time. Max Verstappen said he likes to do his thing and indicated that criticizing the team’s strategies was one of his “Tactics.”
Red Bull Duo GP And Verstappen Know Each Other Inside Out
In Hungary, McLaren had a one-two finish, with Oscar Piastri winning his first Grand Prix. Lando came second, and Hamilton came third. That was Hamilton’s 200th career podium finish. But Red Bull had a tough outing in Hungary. Then, Verstappen’s sweary expression of his frustration might get make things tensed. Anyhow, Christian Horner told Sky Sports, “GP and Max know each other inside out.” Hence, there is no tension between the two. The race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and Max Verstappen sat down and discussed on Thursday about what happened in Hungary.
Horner believes it is a blip, and they have moved on from that. The Red Bull team principal believes the best way to deal with an issue is to talk about it. He said, “GP and Max talked it through.” They moved on and focused on the Belgian GP. But it was a Mercedes show in Spa, as they had a one-two finish. Eventually, George Russell was disqualified. As a result, Lewis Hamilton was the race winner in Belgium ahead of the summer break this year.
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