Ever since the start of this F1 season, there has been a fierce on-track battle brewing between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. But, what’s interesting is that either of the teams’ bosses have opted to maintain the heat off the track as well.
A war of words blew up between Christian Horner and Toto Wolff since the latter threatened to demand the banning of flexi-wings. This is because usage of such components may have potentially been handing Red Bull with a significant aero advantage.
Of course, the Briton subsequently hit back at the Mercedes boss, claiming the Stuttgart outfit, too, have been enjoying the services of such flexible wings. Recently, while responding to the Red Bull boss’s comments, Wolff reckoned that Horner is a “windbag.” Such has been the story between the two.
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Amidst such heated exchange of words going in the backdrop, Mercedes‘ Hamilton opined the two team principals fight it out in a ring.
“We should get them in the ring. They’re the same weight, just difference in height,” he said during the post-qualifying press conference in Baku.
Meanwhile, Verstappen, too, acknowledged Hamilton’s idea. The Dutchman said, “I mean I’m all for a ring anyway. Even in Formula 1, instead of penalties.”
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The Briton felt that the intense on-track rivalry is fueling the spat between Horner and Wolff, which is quite natural in F1.
“Yeah, I think we’ve naturally got… naturally, they’re the two top leaders of the teams. And they’ve both contributed hugely to the success of both teams and great leaders,” he said.
“And of course, they’re head-to-head because we are head-to-head in this tight battle. We generally just like to do our talking on the track. So, we’re just keeping our heads down.”
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Hamilton managed to line up P2 on the grid at Baku, just ahead of his title rival, who lines up in P3. Hence, it is going to be a rather eventful drag race between the duo into turn 1, with Verstappen likely to up his aggression against Hamilton.
Furthermore, unlike past races, Hamilton isn’t leading the championship table anymore, which could push the Briton to show his aggressive side against the Dutchman as well.
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So, will the duo manage to continue keeping their noses clean on the track as they’ve done so far? Or could the Azerbaijan GP ignite a much uglier rivalry between the two?
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