“If I was in his car I would be driving two tenths faster than him”– Max Verstappen wants Lewis Hamilton to stop whining

“If I was in his car I would be driving two tenths faster than him”– Max Verstappen wants Lewis Hamilton to stop whining.

Lewis Hamilton had a sure claim on the title had he not gone straight instead of rounding into the turn 1. However, it was later revealed that the Briton had mistakenly pressed a “magic” break button which unbalanced his brakes.

While Hamilton struggled in both street circuits with the W12, Max Verstappen came with a strong statement and said that he could give two-tenths better timing in the same car.

He confidently declared: “I would say that if I were him, I think if I was in his car, I would be driving two tenths faster than him. So I don’t care what he says.”

“Everyone is trying to do their best, right? I’m not going to say that he makes mistakes because he feels pressure. Everyone is trying to get the most out of it, so am I. Lewis has to fight not only with his team-mate [Bottas] this year but also with another team.

“That adds an extra dimension and I think that is only good for the sport.”

We have an edge in the street circuits.

Verstappen claims that Red Bull clearly had the edge over Mercedes in the street tracks, and that is why he regrets not scoring points that could have fancy his chances of winning the championship.

“It seems like we have the upper hand over Mercedes on street circuits. That’s exactly why I would have liked to score more points. Of course, it makes a difference [that Hamilton didn’t score], but of course, I would have preferred to have walked away [with the win].

“I’m sure on normal circuits, and it becomes a lot harder to have a race as we had here. Our car was perfect, but I honestly expect a powerful Mercedes on normal circuits.

“I feel bad about this missed opportunity to run out of points. We need those points over the whole season, especially when we go back to normal circuits.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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