The Italian GP turned out to be an extremely memorable race for Max Verstappen as he set a new world record with 10 consecutive race wins. However, Lewis Hamilton also managed to make headlines that week – not due to his on-track results, but through his comments about Verstappen as well as his new contract. While most have claimed that Hamilton was a bit too harsh, as per a report by GPFans, Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle has appreciated Lewis Hamilton for his newfound aggressiveness.
The Italian GP saw Lewis Hamilton make headlines as he signed a two-year contract extension with Mercedes ensuring that he will stay with the Silver Arrows at least till the end of 2025. However, that was not all, as he also perked up with his comments regarding Verstappen’s teammate.
As Verstappen claimed pole, Hamilton commented, “When I qualified by half a second, six-tenths ahead of Valtteri, they didn’t say the same thing as what they say today if Max qualifies six-tenths ahead of Pérez – it’s much more inflated now.” This elicited quite a strong response from Verstappen who claimed that Hamilton is simply jealous of his success.
Martin Brundle points out the New Lewis Hamilton
As per a recent report by GPFans, Martin Brundle was extremely impressed with Hamilton’s aggressiveness towards his counterpart. Brundle explained that this was probably the ‘New Hamilton’ who isn’t as diplomatic as he used to be in the past.
Brundle said, “I hope this is the new Lewis after signing his new contract. Normally he is very diplomatic about these kinds of things. Now he chose the attack with a very strong opinion, which he almost made to come across as knowledge. I liked it. I hope he continues to do this.”
However, despite all of this, Brundle also concedes that Hamilton could have given the due credit to Verstappen. “I do think he could have been a bit bigger at that moment by giving Max more credit because Max is quite exceptional at the moment,” said Brundle.
Hamilton’s comments regarding Verstappen’s teammates
Turns out, this was not the only comment that Lewis Hamilton had made regarding Max Verstappen’s teammates. Leading up to the Italian GP, Hamilton had claimed that all of his teammates had been much better than the partners that Max Verstappen had to deal with.
Hamilton used the examples of Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas, and George Russell to explain how good his teammates have been, as compared to Sergio Perez – the teammate of Max Verstappen.
Hamilton had also said that Verstappen’s dominance does not impress him any more than the previous drivers who have achieved the same. Overall, he has been extremely critical of the reigning World champion, something that has ended up impressing Martin Brundle.
