Lewis Hamilton takes aim at Max Verstappen in Hungarian GP radio rage at Red Bull rival | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton has issued a veiled criticism of long-time rival Max Verstappen's radio outburst at the Hungarian GP, ​​with the Mercedes driver also expressing surprise at the referee's decision regarding their collision in the same race.

Hamilton and Verstappen collided on Sunday at the Hungaroring as they battled for third place on the final stage. The Red Bull driver, who eventually dropped to fifth, took to the radio to repeatedly express his frustration and anger at the team’s strategy and the performance of his car.

Mercedes held a media conference on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Belgian GP, ​​and Hamilton was asked how he would cope with the loss of world champion Verstappen's mid-season form in the car, something that current champion Red Bull is currently going through.

“You have to be a team leader and a team player,” Hamilton replied.

“You may not be the team leader, but you should always remember that you are a teammate with many people and act like a world champion.”

Asked to elaborate on the latter point, Hamilton replied: “That's a good question… It was different than last weekend.”

Verstappen defended his radio performance on Thursday, insisting he had no “personal feelings” towards those he worked with at Red Bull and that his candid comments had served him well as the reigning world champion.

“People who don't like my language don't listen to me or turn down the volume. I work very hard to succeed. I've already proven that,” Verstappen said.

“I always want to optimize things. People may argue that you don't shout that much on the radio, but that's their opinion.”

He added: “We're very open-minded. We're very critical of each other as a team and that works very well for us, so I don't expect that to change.”

Hamilton 'very surprised' by director's view on Verstappen crash

Meanwhile, Hamilton challenged the Budapest referee's interpretation of his collision with Verstappen.

Neither driver was penalised for the collision, which Hamilton himself had already described as a “racing incident”, although the officials still said the seven-time world champion “could have done more to avoid the collision”.

“I was really, really surprised,” the Mercedes driver said of the full referee's decision, which came just hours after the race ended.

“I was already very comfortable with the situation and said, 'Look, this is just a racing accident, let's just move on.'

“But when you consider that one car had control at the time and the other didn't – and it's obvious you don't have control when all your wheels are locked – when you look at the replay after the move, you see that it was very, very far from the apex, so there's a lot of space on the right.

“So I was very, very surprised by the managers. I don't know who typed that out, but… that's going to be a question that I'll be asking them when I talk to them someday.”

Mercedes drivers 'excited' about Spa's latest car upgrade

Mercedes didn't need to race as fast on the hot, twisty Hungaroring to repeat their lead from the previous race at Silverstone, but Hamilton's win gave the Briton a fifth successive race podium finish by taking third.

The former champion continues to push for car upgrades with the improved W15.Case Sports This weekend, the new front wing, floor and beam wing will be unveiled at Spa-Francorchamps, the final round before F1's summer break.

Hamilton has finished on the podium in three of the last four races, having previously had his worst season without a top-three finish in 12 races. “I feel good,” the 39-year-old said on Thursday. “I don’t think I’m older than George (26)!”

“I still feel very young, full of energy, motivated and love working with the team.

“We made a few upgrades this weekend so I’m excited to see what it feels like on the track. Hopefully this is another step in the right direction and I’m excited for the next stage of the season.”

Russell, who won in Austria after the Verstappen-Lando Norris collision but was forced to withdraw at Silverstone with a water leak and finished eighth in Hungary after a poor qualifying finish, said: “Budapest showed that I can do better in cool conditions than in hot racing.

“Going into Spa, it looks like it’s going to rain and there will be a few upgrades. We’ve had a similar performance in Canada a couple of races ago so it’s really exciting to see if this race can take us to the next level. We want to be competing with McLaren and Red Bull.

“That's what F1 is about. We want to be part of that fight.”

Belgian GP live schedule on Sky Sports F1

Friday, July 26th
8:50 AM: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12:00 PM: Belgian GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 12:30 PM)
2pm: F3 Qualifying
2:55 p.m.: F2 qualifying
3:45 p.m.: Belgian GP Practice 2 (Session starts at 4pm)
5:15pm: F1 Show

Saturday July 27th
8:45am: F3 Sprint
11:15 AM: Belgian GP Practice 3 (Session starts at 11:30am)
1:10pm: F2 Sprint
2:15pm: Preparation for Belgian GP qualifying
3pm: Belgian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Sunday July 28th
7:25am: F3 Feature Race
8:55 AM: F2 Feature Race
10:40 a.m.: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Belgian GP Preparation*
2pm: Belgian Grand Prix*
4pm: Checked Flag: Belgian GP Reaction
5pm: Ted's Laptop

*Also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 action continues this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix, the last race before F1’s summer break. You can watch every session from Spa-Francorchamps live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership – no contract, cancel anytime