Lewis Hamilton has attracted plenty of criticism this weekend following his comments about Max Verstappen’s F1 team-mates. The seven-time world champion was left red-faced after qualifying on Saturday, finishing three places below the Dutchman’s colleague, Sergio Perez.
The legendary Briton had previously insisted that Verstappen’s team-mates in F1 have been far weaker than those that he has faced during his time in the sport with Hamilton coming up against and getting the better of the likes of Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, these words came back to bite him later in the weekend. The British driver went fastest of the field in Q1 but struggled to replicate that pace in the other two qualifying sessions.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 about the Dutchman’s domination this season, Hamilton explained: “I’m no more impressed than when Michael [Schumacher] was leading, when Sebastian was leading when Kimi [Raikkonen] was driving, when Fernando [Alonso] was winning – it’s just the same. I think the [Red Bull] team as a whole is one of the strongest, they’re firing on all cylinders right now.
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“The car is incredible, the drivers are doing an amazing job, very consistent, the pit crew is doing a great job, the mechanics are doing a good job, strategy is doing a good job – on point, you can’t fault them.
“In my personal opinion, all my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates Max has had: Jenson [Button], Fernando, George [Russell], Valtteri [Bottas], Nico [Rosberg]. I’ve had so many. These guys have all been very, very strong, very consistent – and Max has not raced against anyone like that.”
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When the chequered flag waved in Q3, the 38-year-old was forced to settle for P8 on the starting grid for Sunday’s race, placing him behind Williams driver Alex Albon and McLaren’s highly-rated rookie Oscar Piastri.
Crucially though, he also qualified behind Sergio Perez, whom his criticism earlier in the week had directly targeted. The seven-time world champion also qualified behind his team-mate George Russell, who has had the measure of Hamilton throughout the race weekend.
Such a disappointing showing in the immediate aftermath of these comments has drawn some criticism and amusement from fans of other drivers, who took to social media to demonstrate their feelings. X user @DonnyVerstappen observed: “All Verstappen his (Ex) teammates out qualified Hamilton…”
@kermitnirmit was also unimpressed by the legendary Brit, noting: “All of Hamilton’s ex teammates (and Hamilton himself) are behind Perez on the standings too,” while @abrahams_kyle asked: “Where’s hamilton again? That’s right, behind a Williams, a rookie, Perez and his teammate. Concentrate on yourself.”
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