08/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen has responded to Lewis Hamilton's post-British Grand Prix comment that was clearly aimed at the world champion.
Reflecting on his battle with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez, when asked about the move which saw the Ferrari driver go around the outside at Copse, the Mercedes driver replied: "Charles did a great job, what a great battle. He is a very sensible driver, clearly a lot different to what I experienced last year. At Copse for example, the two of us went through there with no problem."
He was of course referring to the first lap incident in which Verstappen tried a similar move on the Briton, only to end up in the barriers, Hamilton subsequently given a 10 time penalty for causing a collision.
Asked about Hamilton's comments as the Austrian Grand Prix weekend got underway, Verstappen told De Telegraaf: "I think it's quite nice that, at 37 years of age, you can still learn how to hit an apex.
"He is learning, so that is positive," he added. "It is also good for younger drivers to know that you are still learning when you are 37 years old.
"You can clearly see in the footage what was different compared to last year," said the Dutchman. I think Charles gave him less space than I did last year, so that says it all.
"In the end, he was the one who got penalised last year, so there's no point talking about that either.
Refusing to get drawn into a war of words, Verstappen concluded: "I just have to concentrate on what we're doing here. I think we're doing pretty well this year. That's what I'm concentrating on."
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