With 2021 Title on The Line, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen Exchange Fire Over Red Bull Budget Cap Drama

Red Bull has been facing a lot of backlash since last season regarding its budget figures. Everyone in the sport has been suspecting Red Bull of breaching the standards regulated by the FIA. Are these accusations true? A lot of people have discussed and shared their thoughts on the subject over the last few months. Currently, the FIA is investigating the matter and there shall be a final verdict on coming Monday.

Mercedes and Ferrari have explicitly spoken out against these violations as they believe that strict action must be taken against Red Bull if they’re proven guilty post the investigation. Mercedes star and seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, and the Red Bull lion, Max Verstappen, have gone head to head competing for titles and championships. However, the rivalry doesn’t seem to take precedence here, as Hamilton is hoping that these accusations are not true.

Nonetheless, Hamilton didn’t shy away from pointing out that there have been at least ‘four’ upgrades on Red Bull’s car and stated that Mercedes made their last upgrade back in the British Grand Prix and haven’t been able to add any new changes to their car as that would require a lot of money and they didn’t quite have the budgets to go through with those changes that they’ve had in mind to execute.

Hamilton told Sky Sports, “I just don’t know enough about it, but you do hear noises. I do know that we did our last update at Silverstone last year. Red Bull just kept bringing things. I think they did four more upgrades. We could also have brought something, but that would have cost a lot of money. Then we really could have had a lot of extra performance.”

Hamilton proceeds to share his faith in the FIA and believes the result would be fair. He believes that they would get to the bottom of the matter and hopes that they would do the ‘right thing.’ Hamilton also emphasized his gratitude towards his team for following the rules with due diligence.

Max Verstappen, on the other hand, has been under a lot of pressure, however, the Dutchman does not believe he has a lot to worry about as he has faith in his team for having done the right thing all along. He responded to Lewis’ comment, in a conversation with Sky Sports. He said, “We believe we handled everything well. This should have been over long ago. We have our reasons to believe that everything has been handled well. At least that’s what I’ve been told. It’s something between the team and the FIA. I’m not going to talk about it because I’m here to drive as fast as I can. We’ll all hear about it on Monday.”

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Max Verstappen has had to hear a lot of teams talk about him and his potential of losing his hard-earned title. And the Dutchman was straight down crude in response to their way of handling information that may or may not be true.

Max Verstappen Wants Other Teams To Shut Up

Red Bull has been facing troubles from the FIA regarding their budget cap. And in previous reports, Red Bull has clearly stated that the auditors had made all the checks required over time and eventually signed off on their required documents. As for when the signing took place, no issues were reported, and they assured the F1 community that they were in no alleged breach of the rules of the sport. They were confident enough to claim, that if proven guilty, Verstappen can lose his title from last year and have points cut off points from this season altogether.

During this entire period, with the potential of Max losing his title, a lot of teams have spoken out, and some have been directed toward Max as well. Max, now protective of his team and annoyed with the handling of the situation at hand, has had thoughts he needed to get off his chest.

Max told The Race, “I know where it comes from, so for me it’s okay.”

Expressing if he was worried, he said, “Well, with what I hear from the team, yes.”

“Of course, then other teams start to talk about it while they have no information, and I find that a bit silly. Just keep your mouth shut,” he said in conclusion.

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The Dutch Lion is at the receiving end of all the budget drama that Red Bull is facing. Do you think it is fair that being the star driver for Red Bull if proven guilty, he is accountable for the situation? How will things turn out for Red Bull going forward considering they’re in a position of unbeatable lead this season?