Max Verstappen issues response to Lewis Hamilton after ‘act like a champion’ dig

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Told he has to “act like a World Champion” after a testy Hungarian GP, Max Verstappen has told Lewis Hamilton he’s entitled to his opinion, but that’s all it is.

Verstappen came in for some stick at the Hungarian Grand Prix when the triple World Champion let rip over the radio to his Red Bull pit wall as he vented his frustration.

Max Verstappen: Everyone can have their opinion

Unable to take the fight to McLaren, he was also told to give P2 back to Lando Norris after their opening lap shenanigans and was twice undercut in his pit stops.

A late-race crash with Hamilton was the final incident in a sweary Grand Prix for the Dutchman who wasn’t done as he later told his critics they could “f**k off”.

Hamilton was asked about his rival’s antics, and told the media including PlanetF1.com: “You have to be a team leader, a team member.

“Maybe not so much a team leader but more so just always remember you are a teammate with lots of people and you have to act like a World Champion.”

Asked what he meant by “act like a World Champion”, the Mercedes driver laughed and said: “That’s a good question. Not like it was last weekend.”

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Verstappen brushed off Hamilton’s comment when it was put to him by Viaplay at Spa.

“You know what it is, everyone can have their opinion,” he said. “That’s all fine, but I can’t do anything with that.

“That’s not my problem either. You don’t have to dwell on it for very long either. It’s all resolved and we’ll just get on with it.”

Asked if his criticism of Red Bull’s strategy had been part of his ‘tactics’, he replied: “For me it is, anyway.

“Everyone has their own opinion, of course, and they all just do their thing. I go home, I do my thing. It was nice to be in Monaco for a while, too.”

Red Bull did hold clear-the-air talks in the build-up to the Belgian Grand Prix with team boss Christian Horner sitting down with Verstappen, his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and also tech boss Pierre Wache.

“GP and him have had a long relationship, they know each other inside out, so we sat down and we discussed it on Thursday and honestly I think it’s a blip and we move on from that,” Horner told Sky F1.

“It’s a bit like after a bit of counselling. On Thursday [I said]: ‘OK guys, let’s go through the weekend.’

“The best way to deal with any issue is to talk about it, talk it through and GP and Max did that and I think that already we’ve turned the page, focused on this weekend to try and go into the summer break in the best possible shape.”

Verstappen will line up 11th on the Belgian Grand Prix grid having taken a 10-place penalty for taking a fifth for the season. He had been quickest in qualifying, a flying 0.595s quicker than Charles Leclerc who inherited pole position.

Read next: Belgian GP predictions: Another McLaren 1-2, Verstappen podium, Hamilton P6