Lewis Hamilton has said “you don’t expect to go around the outside of a champion” in response to Max Verstappen’s call for him to be penalised for their Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix battle.
The 2021 F1 world title rivals resumed old hostilities in two on-track tussles at the Red Bull Ring, which Hamilton called “good fun” as he successfully held off Verstappen on lap 11 before conceding position to the Red Bull driver when battle resumed on lap 22.
In the lap 11 fight, Verstappen dived ahead at Turn 3 with Hamilton switching back into Turn 4, with the four-time world champion trying to overtake around the outside of Turn 6. The Ferrari driver eased his rival over the kerb having been ahead at the apex, which forced Verstappen to dip two wheels on the gravel before conceding.
That flashpoint led to Verstappen calling for Hamilton to be penalised over team radio, but there was no action taken by the stewards.
When told that Verstappen called for Hamilton to be penalised for his defensive move, Hamilton replied: “He went off the outside. You don't expect to go around the outside of a champion. I wouldn't expect to go around the outside of him there and hold the line.
“So he was behind at the apex and therefore he should have backed out, but he didn't. I left him just enough room.”
Verstappen, who wasn’t specifically quizzed about the incident after the race, appeared unfussed about the battle having been more concerned about losing time trying to catch leader George Russell: “I was closing the gap even after the battles that I had with Lewis. It was cool, but it made us lose quite a bit of time.”
When their fight resumed after the first round of pitstops, Verstappen perhaps took note of the initial engagement as he opted to stick to the inside into Turn 6 which allowed him to ease Hamilton wide and take the place.
Ultimately, Hamilton felt Ferrari wasn’t in the fight at the front due to its unbalanced car, which hampered his pace as he finished in fifth place, 26s off winner Russell.
While Hamilton repeated his comments about Mercedes having the best package on the grid, he also felt Red Bull’s upgrades that arrived in Austria made a major difference, which enabled Verstappen to take second place and his best result of the season so far.
“They [Red Bull] made a huge step this weekend. I think they must have brought three to four tenths upgrade,” Hamilton said. “Three tenths was just from the weight that they dropped from the car, which is huge.
“Considering they've been so close in some of the races like Monaco and they were nine kilos overweight, it's showing that they've got a good car and that they've lost that weight.
“And then they brought up lots of upgrades, so they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the following races.”
"A reality check" for Ferrari
Having gone from victory in Barcelona to fifth place in Austria, Hamilton called the result “a reality check” with Ferrari aiming to understand why it struggled at the Red Bull Ring relative to Mercedes and Red Bull.
“I think we don't know why we were so competitive on Sunday in Barcelona. I think that's a very strong track for me. I chose a strategy that I thought, from experience, I knew that would work. With the deg that we had, it was like 2021,” Hamilton explained.
“But then today I think we were hit more with reality, which is that we still do have a good car, but we are down compared to Mercedes just in our pace.
“They just are quicker and we still have to keep developing. It doesn't mean we can't close that gap. That one win doesn't mean we're going to be beating them all the time.
“I think it's the opposite. We've got a lot of work to do to try it. We still have to continue to add performance to the car, particularly power.”
