After telling his critics to âf**k offâ after a poor race in Hungary, Max Verstappen has been warned to âact like a championâ by rival Sir Lewis Hamilton.
The reigning Formula 1 champion came under heavy criticism for his actions on and off the track during last weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix.
He received flack for illegally overtaking Lando Norris at the start and colliding with Hamilton in the closing stages, but more so for not accepting any responsibility for the two incidents.
Most notably, Verstappen unleashed an angry and sweary tirade over his team radio, panning Red Bullâs âs**tâ strategy, which shocked many including Sky Sportsâ various pundits.
Commentator David Croft suggested a lack of sleep was to blame for his attitude, as Verstappen had stayed up till 3am the night before the grand prix to play sim racing.
In response to those who echoed this, Verstappen told reporters: âThey can all f**k offâ.
After racing virtually unchallenged for over a year, the Dutchman has found himself without the fastest car and is perhaps feeling the pressure of an impending title challenge from Norris and McLaren.
Asked how Verstappen could better deal with his new-found situation, Hamilton told reporters ahead of this weekendâs Belgian Grand Prix: âYou have to be a team leader, a team member.
âMaybe not such a leader, but just always remember you are a team-mate to a lot of people. You have to act like a world champion.â
Asked what acting like a world champion entails, seven-time champion Hamilton simply added: âNot like it was last weekend.â
In the build-up to Belgium, Red Bullâs hierarchy revealed that they had imposed a ban on Verstappen staying up late to sim race on grand prix weekends.
But it seems that the 26-year-old plans to ignore both his team and Hamilton, telling reporters: âWe talked about it. There is no other sim race coming up anyway, so no one needs to worry about that.
âSo no, itâs not that I have a ban or whatever. I also donât need to tell them what they do in their private time and during the weekends, and thatâs the same to me.
âRacing till 3am is not something new and itâs something very important in my life.
âItâs always when you donât win the race, [people] will blame it on, âAhh, heâs staying up until 3am or heâs being one kilo overweightâ. There are always things to make up that you can argue about when youâre not winning a race.
âIâve been doing this since 2015. Iâm a three-time world champion. I think I know what I can and cannot do.
âNow suddenly because I have one race where things donât quite work out, these things are brought up by some people. I think Iâm professional enough to know when itâs appropriate or not.â
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