Max Verstappen has once again laughed off Lewis Hamilton's demand for Formula One chiefs to curb Red Bull's dominance.
Hamilton's Mercedes is struggling to keep up with Verstappen's Red Bull this season, with the latter boasting an impressive 69-point lead over his team-mate Sergio Perez in second. The Red Bull drivers have won all eight of this year's races between them.
Verstappen is now in pole position to claim a third consecutive Drivers' Championship, allowing Red Bull to start developing next year's car. Seven-time world champion Hamilton has called on F1 chiefs to stop the dominant team from doing exactly that.
Yet Verstappen is not impressed with Hamilton's plea. The reigning champion has pointed out that Hamilton never made such an observation when Mercedes dominated the sport, winning eight consecutive Constructors' Championships between 2014 and 2020.
When asked by Sky Sports for his opinion on Hamilton's plea on Thursday, Verstappen laughed: "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 One works.
"When you have a competitive car, it's great. But you also have to look ahead to the year next. It's normal because people behind us say these kind of things, but they should not forget when they were winning and how it was looking."
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Verstappen was asked about the same issue earlier on Thursday. He said: "Life is unfair as well... It's not only in F1. A lot of things in life are unfair so we just have to deal with it."
The debated started when Red Bull chief Christian Horner confirmed Red Bull have already started working on next year's car. "Obviously, because we have a lot less wind tunnel time we have to start thinking a lot about next year," said Horner after Verstappen won this month's Canadian Grand Prix.
"We're spinning a couple of plates at the moment but, with the regulations being stable, whatever we learn this year we carry into next year as well. Of course, there are things that we'll keep bringing to this year's car, but a lot of the focus now back in the factory is already on next year."
Hamilton was asked for his take ahead of this Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. He said: "Ultimately, it's likely that bit by bit, by the end of the year, we'll catch Red Bull, but that's only because they're already focusing on next year's car because they're so far ahead.
"They don't have to make any changes to this year's car any more because they're so far ahead, just cruising 100 points ahead of us. I think the FIA should put a time when everyone is allowed to start development on their next car.
"So, [for example] August 1st, that's when everyone can start, so no-one can get an advantage for next year, because that sucks. Do you not think that would make more sense?
"Say, for example, when you start the season and you know you have a bad car, you can say, 'Actually, I'm not going to bother developing this car, I'll put all the money into next year's car and have an advantage then'."
When Hamilton was challenged on his former dominance, he replied: "It needs to change because that's why you have dominance for so long. They keep allowing it to happen. When Ferrari were ahead the same thing happened there – when Red Bull were ahead with Seb [Vettel] back in the day they could start earlier, they were always ahead."
