Yahoo Finance Lewis Hamilton hits out at Max Verstappen’s ‘over the limit’ racing after title rivals clash in Saudi Arabia
Lewis Hamilton slammed Max Verstappen’s aggressive racing style after the two rivals collided in the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver took victory in Jeddah, to draw level with the Dutchman in the title battle heading into the final race of the season.
It came after another clash between the two of them though, with Hamilton going into the back of Verstappen as Red Bull told their man to slow down and give the place back.
Hamilton and Mercedes felt Verstappen caused the issue with his reckless driving, and the Brit was unimpressed with what he saw.
“I really had to try and keep my cool out there, which was really difficult to do,” Hamilton said.
“I’ve raced a lot of drivers in my life, through the 28 years. I’ve come across a lot of different characters.
“There’s a few at the top who are over the limit, and rules don’t apply or they don’t think of the rules.
“Today I just tried to do my talking on the track and keep the car in between the white lines, and do it the right way.”
When asked if he was specifically referring to Verstappen’s style, Hamilton reiterated his opinion.
“He’s over the limit for sure. I’ve avoided a collision on so many occasions with the guy, and I don’t always mind being the one that does that,” he said.
“You live to fight another day, which I obviously did.”
The incident in the race came after Verstappen held off Hamilton by going off the track as he missed the corner and went straight on to keep the place.
With the stewards investigating the incident, Red Bull decided to give the place back, but Hamilton and Mercedes were unaware of what was going on.
“He obviously brake tested [me], I think to try and get the DRS into the last corner to overtake me again back into turn one,” Hamilton said.
“I didn’t get the information, so I didn’t understand what was going on. It was very, very confusing. All of a sudden he was backing up, and kind of moving a little bit so I thought he was trying to play some sort of crazy tactic.
“All of a sudden the message started coming through as he hit the brakes so hard, and I nearly went up into the back of him and took us both out.
“It doesn’t matter for him if we both don’t finish. For me, we both need to finish. It will be interesting to see what happens.
“I’m personally chilled. I feel like I’m in the boxing ring and I’m ready to go.”
Read More
