Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton lashed out at title rival Max Verstappen after Sunday’s gripping Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, describing the Dutchman as “over the limit.”
Mercedes driver Hamilton won a dramatic race under lights on the Jeddah street circuit, but only after several close run-ins with Red Bull’s Verstappen.
“I really had to try and keep my cool out there, which was really difficult to do,” Hamilton said.
“I have raced a lot of drivers in my 28 years of racing — I have come across a lot of characters. There’s a few that are over the limit, the rules don’t apply. He’s [Verstappen] over the limit for sure — I have avoided collisions on so many occasions with the guy,” he added.
“I don’t mind being the one who does that because you get to live another day. It doesn’t matter for him if we don’t finish. It does for me,” Hamilton said.
The tense battle culminated in a late collision when Hamilton, apparently unaware that Verstappen had been ordered to give up the lead after an illegal maneuvre shortly before, hit the Red Bull as it braked in front of him.
Red Bull maintained that Verstappen was simply following instructions, while Mercedes intimated that the Dutchman was “brake-testing.”
“I don’t understand why he hit the brakes quite so heavily, so I ran into the back of him,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t get the information. It was very confusing.”
However, a visibly annoyed Verstappen denied any wrongdoing in the incident.
“I slowed down. I wanted to let him by. I was on the right, but he didn’t want to overtake and we touched,” Verstappen said. “I don’t really understand what happened there.”
Race stewards, who gave Verstappen a five-second penalty for an earlier incident, were investigating the decision.
“It was quite eventful. A lot of things happened, which I don’t fully agree with, but it is what it is,” the 24-year-old Dutchman said.
He later stormed off the podium, refusing to take part in the traditional end-of-race champagne spraying with Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who took third.
Hamilton and Verstappen are now level on points as they head to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend, although Verstappen has the advantage of having won more races.
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