So, far, the Italian Grand Prix has been quite an enthralling race weekend for the entire motorsport community, not only because of the shocking twists and turns on the track, but also because of the off-track shenanigans that managed to take shape between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Earlier on Thursday, the seven-time world champion triggered a rather entertaining war of words after taking shots at his arch-rival.
The Briton reckoned that Verstappen never had strong teammates and hence, questioned the irresistible hype around the Dutchman’s recent achievements. Unlike Verstappen, Hamilton has defeated the likes of world champions, including Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button. On the other hand, Verstappen is yet to find himself lined up alongside a proven world champion.
Nevertheless, Hamilton’s statement somehow caught Verstappen’s attention who decided to fire back at the Mercedes driver. He opined that Hamilton was nothing but jealous of his achievements, especially amid his title-winning team’s sudden fall in performance. “Perhaps Lewis is a little jealous of my current success,” he told the media on Saturday.
so he was jealous of lewis’ success back then? 😭 https://t.co/JFXKqS8OdD pic.twitter.com/YJOENIOYZu
— val 🦦 (@H44MlLTON) September 2, 2023
“He may think he gains something with that, with statements like that, but it doesn’t matter to me. I think it’s very hard to deal with a loss at Mercedes after all these years of winning so much.” But, here’s something quite amusing! Verstappen had made a similar comment on Hamilton’s dominance, reckoning the British star never had strong teammates. Was Hamilton just taking a jab at the Dutchman with his statements, earlier this weekend?
Max Verstappen’s statement on Lewis Hamilton from 5 years ago
Back in 2019, Verstappen opined that Hamilton never had strong teammates, pointing it out to be one of the biggest reasons behind his glorious F1 stint in the 2010s. “Over the years, Lewis hasn’t had the strongest team-mates,” the Dutchman told The Telegraph.
“If you have the right car you can beat everyone. Lewis is an amazing driver and one of the best to have raced in Formula One. But he has also had the best car, and when you have the dominant car, the only one you are really fighting is your team-mate.”
Overall, it is unlikely that either will budge in the ongoing war of words. Hence, if anything, one can only anticipate the heated situation to further escalate in the coming weeks. Therefore, could this lead to the arrival of rival team bosses, Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, as well? Only time will tell.