Lewis Hamilton Accused of Exploiting “Vulnerable” Max Verstappen Despite Red Bull’s Stern Warning Against Such Dodgy Tactics

The F1 community calls Lewis Hamilton the Wild Old Fox of the F1 Grid. What many people tend to forget is how Lewis Hamilton also has 15+ years of experience in F1 and has fought with the best drivers of the decade. One tends to learn a lot during that period. Days after Red Bull’s stern warning against the dodgy tactics, Lewis Hamilton was recently accused of exploiting the vulnerable Max Verstappen. What did Hamilton do to be accused of this?

At the Monaco GP, the RB19 literally became a rocketship after Sergio Perez crashed in the qualifying. Due to the nature of the track, the car had to be lifted by a crane to recover it, revealing the underfloor of the car. Helmut Marko suggested that he was not happy with the car being lifted as the underfloor produces around 60% of the downforce for these new generations of cars. Lewis Hamilton admitted to having photos of the RB19 underfloor saved on his phone as Red Bull issued a stern warning against the dodgy tactics. 

Nonetheless, Lewis Hamilton tried taking advantage of Max Verstappen, thinking the Dutchman would let his guard down as he asked multiple questions regarding how the RB19 behaved around Montreal. These questions were asked as soon as Hamilton entered the cooldown room. The Briton tried getting into Verstappen’s head as Daniel Ricciardo accused him of exploiting the vulnerable Dutchman.

According to mirror.co.uk, Daniel Ricciardo said, “It’s interesting you know. I see it as Lewis has gone up to him thinking he’s vulnerable and might let his guard down and try and get some information about the car and give it back to the team.”

Read More: Neither Lewis Hamilton Nor Fernando Alonso, Helmut Marko Names the Biggest Threat Max Verstappen Avoided at the Canadian GP

Ricciardo suggested that it was Hamilton’s attempt to extract information about the RB19 out of Verstappen to help his team out. However, Verstappen is experienced enough to know about all this and did not get complacent to give much away. Nevertheless, one of the questions Hamilton asked Verstappen was about the rear of his car being stiff as Hamilton elaborated on his car’s stiffness.

Lewis Hamilton was not happy with the stiffness characteristics of his W14

The circuit in Montreal isn’t used much except for the F1 race. Also, since it’s a street circuit, it’s natural to be a bumpy one. However, Hamilton expressed his concerns regarding the W14 characteristics, explaining how beating the Red Bull is difficult. The Briton also pointed out the stiffness of the car is a major issue around the streets of Montreal. 

According to PlanetF1, Lewis Hamilton said, “It’s [W14] definitely not characteristic-wise the car that’s going to be able to beat the Red Bull just yet. And so we’ve got to work on that. It was very bumpy, this track, and I think everyone was struggling but our car was very stiff. But I think we were all struggling with the stiffness of our cars. But today was bumpy.”

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What did you make of Lewis Hamilton’s tactics against Verstappen in the cool-down room?