Max Verstappen declared that Lewis Hamilton could not "cope with the pressure" of their 2021 title battle moments after his Silverstone crash.
The pair were bitter rivals across the whole of the season, with tensions between them growing further as each race went by. The title race really ignited at the British Grand Prix, where Verstappen crashed into the barriers at high speed after contact with Hamilton.
The Briton went on to win the race, though it was the Red Bull racer who had the last laugh with that controversial victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That came after there had been other incidents involving them at Monza and in Jeddah which got pulses racing.
Before all that, Verstappen had made a declaration about his title rival not long after smashing into a Silverstone barrier at 180mph. World Touring Car racer Tom Coronel has revealed that his fellow Dutchman had sent him a text message little more than an hour after the incident had occurred.
Coronel showed Express Sport that it had taken just three minutes for Verstappen to reply to his concerned message, sent to check if his compatriot was okay. "Cannot cope with the pressure that guy hahaha. Don't worry Tommy, we're gonna beat him this year," the Red Bull racer had said of Hamilton.
The 50-year-old added: "I have Max on the WhatsApp, when he was on his way to the hospital from Silverstone. I tell you he never complained he was pushed out, never. He just said Tommy don't worry we will catch him.
"He was on his way to hospital, he just got out of the crash. He was not complaining that he was pushed out, he was not complaining that he was hurt. He was just saying haha the guy cannot cope with the pressure and we are going to kick back this season. Then you do not have balls, then you have skippy balls. This shows to me the mindset, Max, the mind is so strong, so strong."
Verstappen was taken to hospital after the 51g crash as a precautionary measure, while Hamilton's Mercedes was undamaged. He was slapped with a small penalty for his involvement, but went on to comfortably win the race anyway and celebrate wildly in front of his home fans.
Hamilton said he was "concerned" about Verstappen, but otherwise felt he had not been in the wrong and did not apologise for his role in the crash – "We're out there racing," he simply said. Instead, the Briton was keen to focus on a victory which gave him a huge boost in his quest for an eighth world title.
Verstappen was clearly irked to see such huge celebrations from his hospital bed, and later said: "Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn't do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour but we move on."
