F1 News: Max Verstappen Retaliates After Lewis Hamilton Snub Ahead of Austrian GP

Max Verstappen has reacted to Lewis Hamilton's comments on his and Red Bull's dominance so far this season. With the RB19 being such a potent car and its Dutch driver so far ahead of the pack, the 7-time champion commented on how early the team is starting development on next year's car. Following this, Verstappen retaliated to the comments.

Ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver questioned whether Red Bull should be allowed to begin development of the RB20 with this year's car being seemingly perfected. With the team beginning so early, this will give the Austrian team a headstart over next year and Lewis isn't happy about it.

Talking with Sky Sports F1, the Dutch driver said the following in retaliation:

We weren’t talking about that when he was winning his Championships, right? So I don’t think we should now.

“That’s how Formula 1 works.

“When you have a competitive car it’s great, but at one point you also have to look ahead to the next year.

“It’s normal, of course, [for] people behind to say these kinds of things, but they should also not forget how it was looking when they were winning and if people would comment these kinds of things then probably they would comment a bit different, but that’s how it goes in Formula 1.”

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes had a similar dominance to the current Red Bull era, but interestingly, Lewis said something very similar to Max in 2019.

“If you say that it's boring, I totally understand it and I remember growing up watching. [You] should put the pressure on the people that are at the head, who should be doing the job.

“But don't point the fingers at the drivers because we don't write the rules, we have nothing to do with the money shifting, all that kind of stuff.

“Ultimately the FIA are the governing body and they need to make all the decisions,” he continued.

“The teams shouldn’t be involved in that because the teams all want to do something for themselves. That’s natural, they’re competitive. Same in football, if all the teams sat in a room and said the sport should be like this, they would push and pull for their own benefit."

Hamilton, who matched Michael Schumacher's record of seven World Championships and surpassed 100 pole positions and race wins, had a winless season in 2022. This year is better for the Toto Wolff-led team, but with Aston Martin now in the mix for podiums, they have plenty of work still to do.

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