Max Verstappen has asked for the questions over his Silverstone clash with his Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton to stop, believing that it’s becoming “ridiculous”.
Verstappen and Hamilton have both been bombarded with questions since their controversial collision at Copse during the opening lap of the British Grand Prix.
Fuel was added to the fire when Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hinted Hamilton deserved a race ban and Verstappen labelled Hamilton’s post-race celebrations as “disrespectful”.
Mercedes then released a statement on the eve of the Hungarian GP that Horner described as “antagonistic”, which followed an unsuccessful bid from Red Bull to have Hamilton’s British GP penalty reviewed.
Speaking after he was beaten by both Mercedes drivers to pole position in Hungarian GP qualifying, Verstappen pleaded for the questions regarding his approach following the clash to stop.
“Can we just already stop about this because it’s… we had so many f***ing questions about this,” he said when asked what will happen if he and Hamilton are side-by-side tomorrow.
“It’s just ridiculous. Honestly, the whole Thursday we have been answering this stupid s**t all the time so can we just stop about it, please.
“We are racers, we will race and of course we are going to race hard but fair, so we are going to keep pushing each other.”
Hamilton – sitting next to Verstappen in the post-qualifying press conference having taken his 101th career pole – declined to comment when asked if he had anything to add.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was asked by Sky how he’d advise Hamilton to approach Turn 1 tomorrow with Verstappen on the softer tyres.
“You know, if I start teaching my drivers about how to approach Turn 1 then actually it’s completely gone off the rails,” he joked.
“So let’s see what happens tomorrow. I think it’s going to be an exciting start.”
