LEWIS HAMILTON has delivered a thinly-veiled attack on Max Verstappen after claiming he was “torpedoed” in Mexico.
Hamilton was nearly wiped out on the opening lap as the bullish Red Bull driver gave him no room around turn two.
Lewis Hamilton believes Red Bull rival Max Verstappen resorted to silly aggression
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen implied he thinks there are double standards, applied in favour of Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton
The Mercedes ace was forced on to the grass yet recovered to go on to win for the 10th time this season.
Sunday’s result means he will win a sixth title at the US GP this weekend, providing he finishes in the top eight.
Hamilton, 34, took a pop at Verstappen, hinting that his aggressive driving is “silly” and will be hoping to avoid him in Texas this weekend.
He said: “I obviously got torpedoed.
“I thought at some stage I’d get torpedoed by Max.
“If you’ve seen races before, I always leave Max a lot of space — it’s the smartest thing you can do.
‘AGGRESSIVE AND SILLY’
“Every driver is different. Some are smarter; some are very smart, aggressive and some are silly with it.
“Through experiences of racing with people, you give some more space and others you don’t have to. They’re quite respectful.
“But yeah, Max . . . it’s very likely you’re going to come together with Max if you don’t give him extra space, so most of the time you do.
“I don’t think it was intentional he’s just a magnet for those kind of things.”
The simmering feud comes after Verstappen, who also carelessly crashed into Valtteri Bottas in Mexico, was punished for ignoring yellow safety flags during qualifying.
Some of the fizz was taken off victory in Mexico for Lewis Hamilton by his clash with Max VerstappenCredit: Alamy Live News
Verstappen was stripped of pole position with Hamilton being critical of the 22-year-old’s disregard for safety as he powered past Bottas’ broken Merc.
And while Verstappen now admits he was wrong, he accused the sport’s governing body of double standards for letting Hamilton off by saying that he also failed to slow.
He said: “The rule is very clear. Looking back for sure, yeah, I should have but then everybody should do the same.
“I know Seb did, but one silver car didn’t, then he doesn’t get a penalty and that annoys me as well. It is what it is, I can’t decide for other drivers about the rules.”
Hamilton was cleared by the race director as he was too close to Bottas’ accident to stop.
Meanwhile, the Brit is relishing his chance to retain the F1 title and move clear in second place in the list of multiple F1 champions, with only Michael Schumacher ahead of him on seven.
Hamilton added: “The US is an exciting market. It’s its own unique amazing Grand Prix.
“The track is fantastic and it’s been a good hunting ground for me, so I’m very excited to go there.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
