Lewis Hamilton Slots in Time for Max Verstappen Confrontation at Belgian GP: “Might Be Something He Wants to Say”

Pranay Bhagi | 26/07/2024
Lewis Hamilton Slots in Time for Max Verstappen Confrontation at Belgian GP: “Might Be Something He Wants to Say”

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.”

About their handshake in Hungary, Hamilton simply said that he was breaking the ice rather than just ignoring Verstappen and walking by.

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.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mercedes Red Bull

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Pranay Bhagi

Pranay Bhagi is an F1 Journalist at the Sportsrush. He's been following the sport since 2010 and has been a Sebastian Vettel enthusiant since then. He started his F1 journalism journey two years ago and has written over 1300 articles. As an Aston Martin supporter, he hopes for Fernando Alonso to win the 3rd title. Apart from F1, anything with an engine and wheel intruiges him. In true petrolhead sense, he often travels across the country on his motorcycle.

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