Verstappen mocks Hamilton's praise of Leclerc: "Learned tangency at 37"

The feud between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton has certainly cooled down on the track, but the two continue to feud behind the scenes. After the British GP last Sunday (3), the Briton praised the dispute he had on the track with Charles Leclerc, in which the two made the Copse side by side, the same corner in which the two rivals touched in 2021, with the Dutchman getting the worst of it. The seven-time champion said that the Monegasque was "quite reasonable" and that "it was clearly different from last year."

Now it was Verstappen's turn to respond. In an interview with Dutch media before the Austrian GP, which takes place this Sunday (10), the reigning champion ironized Lewis' words. Max said that it is nice to see that the Briton keeps learning at 37 years old and that he is now able to get the curve right.

"It's pretty cool that at 37 years of age you can still learn to get the corner tangency right. He's learning, so that's positive. It's also good for the younger drivers to see that you're still learning at 37," the Red Bull driver laughed.

"You can see in the video that clearly it was different from last year. I think Charles gave him even less room than I did last year, so that says it all. In the end, Lewis who was penalized last year, so there's no reason to talk about that either," concluded the Dutchman.

Max has six wins from ten races so far this season, with a 34-point lead over Sergio Perez, his teammate. Asked if he thought Hamilton's comments were part of the game, Verstappen said he was surprised by the speech, but that he is focused on the quest for a two-race championship.

"A bit abrupt, but it doesn't affect my performance. I just have to focus on what we are doing here. I think we are doing very well this year. That's what I'm focusing on," he said.

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