[ad_1]
Max Verstappen looks increasingly likely to win his first Drivers’ Championship this year after his dominant display in Mexico last weekend. The Dutchman took the lead at turn one on the opening lap after a bold move down the outside, jumping both Mercedes cars. Mercedes accused the Red Bull man of “guessing and hoping for the best” with his manoeuvre. Verstappen will be looking for another win in Brazil this week to put one hand on the championship.
He has a mixed history at the iconic circuit, winning there in 2019.
But, in 2018, Verstappen’s race fell apart when he collided with Esteban Ocon, then driving for Racing Point.
The Dutchman was attempting to lap his French counterpart, only to hit each other.
After the race, a war of words ensued between the two drivers.
Verstappen said: “To get taken out like that, and to get a stupid response from his side as well, I was not happy about that.
“I’m just trying to do my race and suddenly a backmarker is… just taking a stupid risk, to dive in on the inside. What can I do about it? The penalty for me today is that I lost the victory.
“Hopefully in 15 years we can laugh about it.”
Asked about an off-track altercation between the two, Verstappen defended his actions, saying: “We are all passionate about the sport. I mean, it would be odd if I had shaken his hand.”
Lewis Hamilton also gave his verdict on the incident saying: “I wasn’t surprised by it… Max is like that, he’s a go get it guy and every now and then it comes to bite you.”
Verstappen retorted: “Of course afterwards, you can easily say ‘Max you should have given him room and blah blah blah’.
“But it’s not like that. We are racing and you don’t expect a back-marker to take you out.”
A year later, Verstappen was indeed able to laugh about it – even joking his crash with Ocon was karma for an incident involving his father.
READ MORE:Wolff vows to ‘throw everything’ at Brazilian GP but admits weakness
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said a week ago he had “information” indicating a Hamilton penalty was on the cards.
Asked during his press conference in Sao Paulo about the prospect of an engine penalty, Hamilton told reporters: “I can’t really comment at the moment.
“As far as I’m aware my engines are fine, but I will find out later on. I don’t think the engines have even arrived this morning. We haven’t even done an engineering briefing yet.”
[ad_2]
