Manama: Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has accused Max Verstappen of lacking respect in trying to force his way past him in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Briton, who has spoken glowingly in the past of a 20-year-old he sees as a future champion, vented his feelings with some strong language after finishing third at the floodlit Sakhir circuit.
“There needs to be a certain respect between drivers,” Mercedes’ four times world champion said.
“Maybe I need to go and watch the manoeuvre again, but it didn’t feel like a respectful manoeuvre.”
Verstappen had started 15th in his Red Bull, after crashing in Saturday’s qualifying, and dived down the inside of Hamilton into the first corner at the start of lap two in an attempt to seize 10th.
He took a wider line at the exit in what seemed like an attempt to head off any counter attack from Hamilton when the Dutchman’s left rear tyre made contact with his rival’s front wing.
Hamilton emerged unscathed but the collision punctured Verstappen’s tyre which eventually damaged his gearbox and forced him to retire from the race.
“If you look at it, I was actually ahead for quite a period of time,” Hamilton later told reporters after having gone through replays of the incident.
“Then I accepted defeat and I just backed out because I knew he was going to try and run me wide. But then he just kept going. He didn’t need to keep going ... because I had already backed out.”
Verstappen, who blamed Hamilton for the collision, has taken Formula One by storm since making his debut as a 17-year-old with Toro Rosso in 2015.
He is now seen as a champion-in-waiting whose speed, aggression and racecraft have won him many admirers but also led to run-ins with some of his rivals, most notably Ferrari pair Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
Vettel leapt to the defence of Hamilton when the Briton faced questions over his post-race criticism of Verstappen’s driving.
Hamilton was heard using a profanity to describe the Dutchman during a private conversation, picked up by microphones in the drivers’ room, shortly before the podium ceremonies.
The comments were made in relation to Red Bull driver Verstappen’s driving, which led to his collision with Hamilton of Mercedes early in the race, won by German Vettel for Ferrari.
When Hamilton was asked about his comments during the mandatory post-race news conference, Vettel intervened.
“Can I answer that?” he said. “It’s not fair. I don’t know what Lewis did, but we’ve all been in that situation.
“We fight someone and sometimes we go wheel-to-wheel and it’s close — and we have a lot of adrenalin going.
“Do you think, if you compare it to football, if you have a microphone on a footballer’s mouth, that everything he says is something nice and it’s a nice message when the guy tackles him and sometimes he fouls him?
“I don’t think it’s justified to give us this kind of (expletive) question and making up a story out of nothing.”
Vettel said it was normal for a driver to react emotionally in high-pressure situations.
“We are just racing, we are full of adrenalin and we say these things,” he added. “If I hit you in your face, you are not going to tell me, ‘Sebastian, that wasn’t nice’.
“It’s a human reaction and sometimes I feel it’s all a bit blown up and artificial if we have these questions trying to make something out of nothing.”
Vettel earned his 49th win in his 200th Formula 1 race and the fourth at Bahrain to break the record set by Spaniard Fernando Alonso,
To set the milestone, Vettel, 30, had to fend off a late fierce attack from Mercedes’ Finnish driver — Valtteri Bottas — who had to settle for the second spot.
Starting the race from the ninth position due to a five-place grid penalty over a gearbox change, the defending champion — Hamilton — rounded out the podium.
After the win, Vettel now has 50 points in the 2018 driver standings, 17 points ahead of Hamilton, while the Briton’s teammate Bottas is in third 28 points off the pace.
Results
1. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 1hr 31min 59.491sec, 2. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) at 0.699sec, 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 6.512, 4. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Toro Rosso) 1:02.234, 5. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas) 1:15.046, 6. Nico Huelkenberg (GER/Renault) 1:39.024, 7. Fernando Alonso (ESP/McLaren) 1 lap, 8. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren) 1 lap, 9. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber-Ferrari) 1 lap, 10. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Force India) 1 lap, 11. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Renault) 1 lap, 12. Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India) 1 lap, 13. Brendon Hartley (NZL/Toro Rosso) 1 lap, 14. Charles Leclerc (MON/Sauber) 1 lap, 15. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 1 lap, 16. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) 1 lap, 17. Sergey Sirotkin (RUS/Williams) 1 lap
Championship standings
Drivers
1. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 50 pts, 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 33, 3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 22, 4. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 16, 5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 15, 6. Nico Huelkenberg (GER) 14, 7. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 12, 8. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 12, 9. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 10, 10. Max Verstappen (NED) 8, 11. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL) 6, 12. Marcus Ericsson (SWE) 2, 13. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 1, 14. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 1
Constructors
1. Ferrari 65 pts, 2. Mercedes 55, 3. McLaren 22, 4. Red Bull 20, 5. Renault 15, 6. Toro Rosso 12, 7. Haas 10, 8. Sauber 2, 9. Force India 1
