Hamilton makes comparison with Verstappen: Was that justified or not?
General
- Ludo van Denderen
Following questions about the communication with his engineer, Riccardo Adami, during the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton made a comment about Max Verstappen in China. Rightly or wrongly from the former world champion?
With a post on Instagram, Red Bull Racing has made a small statement: Max Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase are close, very close, the Austrian racing stable wants it to be known. Several photos showing the pair being particularly happy together are proof.
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It is no coincidence that this message appears on Red Bull's official channel this Thursday of all days. Indeed, earlier in the day, during a session with the press, Lewis Hamilton talked about Verstappen and Lambiase. "The conversation that Max has with an engineer over the years, the abuse that the poor guy's taken, and you never write about it, but you wrote about the smallest little discussion I had with mine," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
Why this was said? Hamilton had come under fire from various media outlets because the Ferrari driver had - at least so it was said - reacted agitatedly to instructions from his new race engineer during the Australian Grand Prix. And in Shanghai, on the eve of the Chinese Grand Prix, the media circled back on the matter again.
Hamilton's remarkable statement
Hamilton is normally someone who chooses his words carefully, so it is remarkable that he was tempted to make a comparison with Verstappen. It was not a smart remark, as it was to be expected that this sentence took the very focus away from what Hamilton really wanted to say, namely that in his eyes nothing strange had occurred.
Fair is fair, the way Hamilton communicated last Sunday was anything but rude. It was direct, clear and completely understandable for a driver going at high speeds over a wet and difficult track. Compare it to swearing during a race, everyone understands that emotions can sometimes run so high under great pressure that a swear word is used. Or so firmly communicated to the pit wall.
By the way, was Hamilton fundamentally right about Verstappen? No one can deny that Verstappen and Lambiase regularly had spirited arguments in the past. That's part of the game, as it was with Hamilton now. And yes, Lambiase has had to swallow some tough exchanges with Verstappen here and there. But they are mature people who have a lot of respect for each other.
Just as Hamilton has for Riccardo Adami, his race engineer. It's all part of being at the absolute top of Formula 1.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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