Lewis Hamilton offers withering assessment of Max Verstappen’s driving in wake of the world champion’s clash with Lando Norris in Mexico, insisting he hasn’t changed since their infamous world title battle in 2021
- Lewis Hamilton was furious with the way Max Verstappen drove in the 2021 season
- He has not changed his mind after Verstappen’s antics in Mexico on Sunday
Lewis Hamilton has claimed Max Verstappen still hasn’t learned his lesson after calling him a ‘dangerous’ driver in their 2021 title race.
The Red Bull star is reportedly facing a five-place penalty for this weekend’s Brazilian GP after two separate incidents with title rival Lando Norris in Mexico.
As a result, Verstappen received a 20-second time penalty during the Mexican GP and McLaren star Norris labeled him as ‘dangerous’.
The Dutchman is only 47 points ahead of Norris and still has 120 to collect.
And Hamilton has insisted Verstappen has not changed since the 2021 season, when he passed the Englishman on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi GP to win the title.
Lewis Hamilton thinks Max Verstappen still drives ‘the same’ as when he called him ‘dangerous’ in 2021
Verstappen was given two penalty points in Mexico on Sunday due to incidents with Lando Norris
McLaren CEO Norris is now only 47 points behind Verstappen with four race weekends to go
“All you have to do is go back and listen to some of my radio comments from back then,” Hamilton said.
“If I was in the fight I could lean on it more, but you have to ask those two [Verstappen and Norris] because they are the ones affected by it.
“But I don’t think you see much difference over the years from 2021 to now, it’s pretty much the same.”
In the penultimate race of the 2021 season in Jeddah, Hamilton believed that Verstappen deliberately slowed down on lap 37 to ‘brake test’ him.
Hamilton swerved but collided with Verstappen’s left rear tire with the right side of his front wing. Verstappen was given a 10-second time penalty for irregular driving, but that was not enough to lose a place.
“He just braked me,” Hamilton said on his team radio at the time. “That was dangerous driving.”
After the race he added: ‘I’ve raced with a lot of drivers in my life, over the last 28 years. There are a few at the top that exceed the limit. Rules don’t actually apply, or they don’t think about the rules.
‘He’s definitely over the limit. I’ve avoided a collision with that man so many times.’
Norris accused Verstappen of ‘dangerous’ driving after having contact with him twice
The Dutch Red Bull driver faced pressure from Norris when the pair collided during the race
Seconds later the rivals resumed their bitter battle and, taking advantage of the commotion, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc intervened to make it a team one-two with Sainz.
Verstappen then radioed to his support team: ‘Mate, what can I do with an empty battery? What kind of stupid mode is this?’
Verstappen was handed two separate 10-second penalties within minutes of each other for his driving in turns four and eight over the weekend.
He was judged to have forced Norris off the track at turn four, for which he received his first penalty.
Verstappen also forced Norris four corners later, regaining a position, and was later punished for gaining a lead by leaving the circuit.
F1 legend Damon Hill accused Verstappen of ‘Dick Dastardly stuff’. Dick Dastardly was a character in the 1960s TV series Wacky Races who tried to win races using underhanded tactics.
But Verstappen, who finished sixth in Mexico while Norris finished second behind Carlos Sainz, hit back: ‘I don’t listen to those individuals. I just do my thing. I’m a three-time world champion and I know what I’m doing. I have my opinion, and I don’t have to share it.’