Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton provided shades of the 2021 season with their coming together at the Hungarian GP. They both had contrasting views on the incident in which Verstappen came off worse, and Hamilton admitted that he would talk to the Red Bull driver ahead of the Belgian GP.
Hamilton and Verstappen shook hands after the Hungarian GP but did not have time to clear the air. As such, Hamilton said,
“Maybe we’ll talk in the [drivers’] parade this weekend, maybe. I’ve not felt like there’s necessarily a need to, but there might be something he wants to say. But we didn’t get the time to do it.”
#F1 | Sir Lewis Hamilton’s interview with Mariana Becker after the Hungarian GP ~
“…we move on..” ✨ pic.twitter.com/rzcElM4nvR
— sim (@sim3744) July 22, 2024
About their handshake in Hungary, Hamilton simply said that he was breaking the ice rather than just ignoring Verstappen and walking by.
VERSTAPPEN HAMILTON
A big hit that sent the Red Bull flying and ultimately ended the fight for P3 #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/I7K2Nu5sgG
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2024
Seemingly, however, Verstappen would hold on to his belief that Hamilton moved under braking, which caused the shunt. He instantly blamed the Briton on the team radio, only for his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to shut him down. Race control, meanwhile, like Hamilton, saw it as a racing incident and neither driver got a penalty.
Hamilton Advises Verstappen to Act Like a World Champion
Verstappen was frustrated with the RB20’s performance throughout the Hungarian GP weekend. He was not particularly happy in recent weeks too, but at the Hungaroring, the team’s failed upgrades and poor strategy calls sent him over the edge.
Hamilton, however, felt that Verstappen should have been more mature. He said,
“You have to be a team leader, a team member. Maybe not so much a team leader but more so just always remember you are a teammate with lots of people and you have to act like a world champion.”
For Hamilton, the race was not too great either, as P3 was the best he could muster. Regardless, he thanked them for their support and asked them to keep pushing.
Hamilton added that even if the car had improved slightly, he would give a shoutout to the team working hard at the factory.
