MAX VERSTAPPEN has hit back at “silly” Lewis Hamilton after the Brit blasted the Red Bull star.
Hamilton claimed he was “torpedoed” by the Dutchman at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix last weekend.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has hit back at Lewis Hamilton following his comments after the Mexican Grand Prix
Hamilton, 34, questioned Verstappen’s aggression and added that he would give him extra space in Austin this week where he can win the title, providing he finishes in the top eight.
Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both criticised Verstappen, but now the 22-year-old has hit back telling the world champions to stay at home if they don’t like it.
He said: “From my side, it was a bit of a silly comment to make [from Lewis] because I’m always a hard racer but fair.
“Of course it’s easy to have a dig at someone. From my side, it’s fine. I think it’s always positive when they talk about you, because that means you’re in their heads.
“I don’t need to dig into other people in press conferences because it is disrespectful.
“I prefer to fight people on track, that’s what I love to do. I like to fight hard, on the edge.
From my side, it was a bit of a silly comment to make [from Lewis] because I’m always a hard racer but fair.”
Max Verstappen
“If they want me to stay behind, then they’d be better to stay at home. I want to take the fight to them, that’s what we are here for.
“We are racers. We are in Formula One, we are the best out there and why we fight for victories because that’s what I live for.”
Verstappen will make his 100th F1 start this weekend in the US GP coming off the back of a disappointing result in Mexico where he was stripped of pole position by the race stewards.
He was demoted three places for ignoring yellow safety flags when Valtteri Bottas crashed out.
However, while he is getting dug out by his rivals, he admits the FIA punishment WAS fair.
He added: “We had a good talk in the stewards, and I said that I didn’t see the yellow flag, but of course there is a rule that when there is a yellow flag displayed, that you have to slow down.
“There are also no hard feelings about that, just very unfortunate that I didn’t see that yellow flag.
“In hindsight, I didn’t need to go for that lap time, because I was already on pole position. What was going through my head through that lap is that you don’t know what the other guys in front of you are doing.
“Next time I’m anyway going to lift off the throttle, even if I would improve my lap time.”
Furious Max Verstappen pushes Esteban Ocon in astonishing post-race F1 row
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
