Max Verstappen says Mercedes showed ‘how they really are’ at Silverstone.
Max Verstappen says Mercedes showed ‘how they really are’ at Silverstone.
Mercedes “showed how they really are” by ecstatically celebrating Lewis Hamilton’s controversial win at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, according to Max Verstappen.
Hamilton won at Silverstone after colliding with Verstappen on the first lap, forcing the Dutch driver out of the race and to the hospital for precautionary tests. Later, Verstappen tweeted that he thought it was impolite to see Hamilton and Mercedes celebrating while this was going on.
Hamilton claims he didn’t know Verstappen was still in the hospital until after the celebrations.
Verstappen was questioned about the remarks again ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. He believed the events after the previous race summed up Mercedes as a squad.
“To me, disrespectful is when one man is in the hospital and the other guy is waving the flag around like nothing happened,” Verstappen remarked.
“And not just that, but the whole team’s response as well.” That, in my opinion, is not the way to celebrate a victory, particularly one obtained in the manner in which they did. That’s what I felt to be very discourteous.
“In any case, it reveals their true nature. It comes out of a tense circumstance, but I don’t want to be associated with it.”
“No, I simply believe he misread the moment in that corner and the rest I won’t comment on,” Verstappen replied when asked whether Hamilton drives dirty.
Following Red Bull’s decision to appeal Hamilton’s 10-second time penalty during the race, Verstappen, Hamilton, and representatives from both teams will meet the stewards on Thursday. Following the race at Silverstone, Red Bull chief Christian Horner called Hamilton a “amateur” and claimed a much harsher penalty should have been imposed.
When asked what he and Red Bull want to be applied in the future to similar situations, Verstappen simply replied, “Common sense.”
Shortly after Verstappen’s crash, Hamilton addressed to the media and claimed he reached out to his title opponent to speak about it.
“I called Max after the race just to make sure he was OK and to let him know the respect is still there, but clearly it’s not returned,” Hamilton added. “However, that’s OK.”
If he could go back in time and do it all over again, Hamilton says he wouldn’t change a thing.
“In terms of the move, I’d do it the way I did it the last time,” he said. I wouldn’t change it because of how I’ve reviewed and analyzed it based on all of my experience over the years, which speaks for itself.”
“I don’t think our behavior was disrespectful,” Verstappen remarked in response to the other criticism.
“It’s one thing to know and then celebrate what occurred, and it’s another to not know and then celebrate.” I wasn’t aware, as I already said.
“But it’s my home grand prix, and we worked extremely hard for who knows how long to get that outcome, and what a momentous occasion it was for us to see the whole home audience for the first time since last year was missing.”
“Emotions were at an all-time high. It wasn’t a planned party; it was just the pleasure of seeing so many people enjoying and being together. This is a normal reaction. I’m not going to keep my feelings hidden. The sight of so many people was incredible.”
Verstappen’s championship lead was cut from 33 to eight points after Hamilton’s victory at Silverstone.
The Hungarian Grand Prix will be broadcast live on ESPN on August 1 from 8.55 a.m. (ET).
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