Red Bull’s sheer dominance has undoubtedly rattled the Mercedes in recent times. After all, the drink-based team snatched away their years-long supremacy on the tracks of Formula One. The tussle between the teams has also intensified the battle between the top drivers, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen. The duo has been at crossroads on numerous occasions in the past, be it on the track or off the track.
However, since Red Bull has unleashed their complete dominance, it’s been hard for Lewis Hamilton to accept that he is not in contention for a championship anymore. Mercedes’ dubious strategic moves are also to blame for the team’s debacle. But the British driver recently chose to call upon the higher authority to clamp down on Red Bull’s rise, which naturally irked the latter’s lead driver, Max Verstappen and gave rise to a verbal battle.
Lewis Hamilton Calls For FIA’s Intervention To Stop Red Bull’s Dominance
Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton arrived on the paddock for the media day on Thursday. However, his honest and candid interview caused a lot of stir among hardcore Formula One fans. It all started when the Briton was updating on the development of Mercedes’ W14. He said that they are heading in the right direction, and probably, towards the end of the season, the Silver Arrows would be able to catch up to Red Bull. But that’s because the drink-based team has already given up on developing this year’s car, Hamilton added. Lewis referred to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner’s earlier comments, wherein he confirmed that the team has already started developing cars for the upcoming 2024 season.
Lewis Hamilton believes that FIA must put a time restriction on teams as to when one can start working on developing the machinery for the next season. The Briton explained that by starting the work for the next season early, a team like Red Bull gains an unfair advantage, which leads to such kinds of long dominance. Red Bull knows that they have built the fastest car capable of winning the championship this season. Hence, they are not required to work on any significant upgrades, unlike Mercedes. Hence, the seven-time world champion urged FIA to clamp down on Red Bull with rule changes to end their prolonged dominance. While the British driver issued a viable explanation for his opinion, it did not go down well with reigning F1 champion and Red Bull’s lead, Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen Hits Back At “Hypocrite” Hamilton For His Rule Change Demand
Media day for the Austrian Grand Prix turned into a verbal battleground. After Lewis Hamilton put forth his opinion on Red Bull’s dominance, Max Verstappen defended his team by hitting back at the British driver. The Dutchman said that nobody was talking about such things when Mercedes were dominating for nearly a decade. So what’s changed now? There’s no room for any such changes, and this is how Formula One works, said Verstappen.
The Red Bull driver further added that everybody is entitled to an opinion. But one must remember that at some point, even they used to rule the sport. And if, at that stage, a rival made such a comment, even they (referring to Mercedes) would have reacted the same way that he was doing. At the end of the day, life and Formula One is not fair, and one must accept the reality and move on. The war of words between the two stalwarts is nothing new. It’s only going to intensify the battle to come out on top between Mercedes and Red Bull.
