Lewis Hamilton denied acting with hostility towards his former championship Max Verstappen after the pair clashed in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
But the Mercedes driver believes Verstappen, who pipped him to the 2021 world championship in controversial circumstances, does not respond to him the same way.
Both drivers were cleared over their collision while disputing third place in today’s race. Verstappen accused Hamilton of changing his direction in the braking zone, but the stewards ruled he had not, while stating Hamilton “could have done more” to prevent the collision.
Hamilton admitted defending his position on the way into the corner but said he left Verstappen room to avoid contact.
“We passed a backmarker, I got to the braking zone and then Max appeared to overtake the car behind me, so I moved over to defend. I left enough room in the inside, but Max locked up.
“He was going a different trajectory to me. I was going towards the corner and he came shooting across. It felt like a racing incident.
“It’s easy to make mistakes like that. So I don’t feel there should be any hostility. But of course, from his side, there always will be.”
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Mercedes won the previous two races in Austria and Britain, but Hamilton said he was surprised by how competitive they were in the high temperatures at the Hungaroring.
“Unfortunately, we’re still not, in hot conditions particularly – you saw in Austria and here – we’re not able to keep up with these guys. But in stint one, I was really surprised to see that I was able to hold on to Max. I wasn’t even having to push too hard to stay within a second, or around a second behind him.
“So I thought at that point that maybe I was in for a chance of at least fighting for that place. But then in the second stint, it was a bit of a disaster, it didn’t feel good and the true pace of the car started to show, I think, on those tyres.
“But we obviously got the undercut [on Verstappen] and track position is clearly key on this track. And I think that really ultimately made the difference.”
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2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
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