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“The W13 is not all horrific right?”– Max Verstappen questions Lewis Hamilton over George Russell’s points haul

Tanish Chachra
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"The W13 is not all horrific right?"– Max Verstappen questions Lewis Hamilton over George Russell's points haul

Max Verstappen questions Lewis Hamilton’s performances while George Russell is thriving in the same car and is at the top5 of every race.

While the on-track rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton has faded in 2022 amidst the underwhelming pace of Mercedes. The sourness between the two drivers is still visible.

Hamilton didn’t have an ideal start to the season, he currently ranks seventh in the standings. Thus, allowing Verstappen to have a dig on his 2021 championship rival. The Dutchman references George Russell’s performances to say that Hamilton is not doing great.

The new Mercedes driver in all the four races has refused to finish outside the top 4, including a podium. Anyway, Verstappen is not the first person to show a contrast in the performances of the two drivers.

“I had great battles with Lewis last year,” said Verstappen to Telegraph. “Now he’s in a car which is not so great. Having said that, of course, George [Russell] does finish fourth in that car. So it [the W13] is not all horrific right?”

Also read: F1 fans shocked over ridiculous €250,000 fine Lewis Hamilton can face

Lewis Hamilton is ready to bounce back; Comments by Max Verstappen won’t stop him

Hamilton before the FP1 on Friday talked to the media about how he feels about people’s criticism of him. Hamilton responded by saying that he has seen bigger adversaries in his career, and always bounced back.

A few races won’t demotivate and stop loving racing. So, about time Hamilton assures that he will find a solution with Mercedes and will rule the track once again.

Mercedes en route to comeback?

Mercedes stepped into Miami with some interesting upgrades, apparently, those changes have reduced their porpoising. Moreover, they have also shredded weight, combined, it can give them the necessary pace.

The changes that have worked can also be reflected in Russell’s performance in the first session, as he banged P3 in the table. So, an interesting weekend awaits, as Mercedes will have some pace to show.

“It has been encouraging,” said Shovlin. “We have got a lot of new parts on the car, new wings front and rear. We are always trying to get weight out of the car. It seems to be working reasonably well.”

“We know that we should have improved the car but we know that there is still a lot of work to do. There is less (porpoising) but when we have gone from track to track you get different amounts. It does seem to be working quite well here and it is not the issue it was in Imola.”

Also read: F1 Twitter reacts to Lewis Hamilton wearing watches and jewellery to rile up FIA

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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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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