Max Verstappen has brutally responded to a dig from Lewis Hamilton as the animosity between the two world champions ramps up once again.
The pair were involved in a tight title fight throughout the 2021 season, and such close competition rarely comes without a bit of needle. Their relationship turned more and more sour as the year went on, ending in the controversial finale after several incidents in earlier races.
One of the biggest of those came at Silverstone, when Verstappen was sent into a high-speed crash at Copse after contact with Hamilton. While the Red Bull star was taken to hospital for checks, the Brit was handed a small penalty but went on to win the race anyway.
In this year's race, Verstappen spent most of his time away from the fight for the win after picking up damage from hitting some on-track debris. But Hamilton was in the hunt with his W13 working better than it has all season, helping him to scrap with the likes of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc for a place on the podium.
Much to the delight of the home crowd he managed it, finishing third at the expense of the Ferrari man. But Leclerc gave it his best shot despite being on older tyres, and the two racers went into that same Copse corner side-by-side – it was thrilling racing action, and both drivers showed respect and came out unscathed.
Hamilton was quick to give kudos to the Monegasque after the race for his part in that duel, and couldn't resist a dig at Verstappen. "What a great battle. "[He's] a very sensible driver, clearly a lot different to what I experienced last year," said the Mercedes man.
Verstappen has now responded to that with a thinly-veiled dig of his own, clearly still angry at Hamilton for causing that crash last year at Silverstone. Asked by Dutch media if he had a response to the seven-time world champion, he said: "I think it's quite nice that, at 37 years of age, you can still learn how to hit an apex.
"He is learning, so that is positive. It is also good for younger drivers to know that you are still learning when you are 37 years old. You can clearly see in the footage what was different compared to last year.
"I think Charles gave him less space than I did last year, so that says it all. And in the end, [Lewis] was the one who got penalised last year, so there's no point talking about that either. I just have to concentrate on what we're doing here. I think we're doing pretty well this year. That's what I'm concentrating on."
