“Not His Fault,” Max Verstappen Defends Lewis Hamilton over Monaco GP Qualifying Outburst

Max Verstappen asserted that he does not hold any grudges against Lewis Hamilton for the impeding situation at the Monaco GP.

“Not His Fault,” Max Verstappen Defends Lewis Hamilton over Monaco GP Qualifying Outburst

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen (via Getty)

Lewis Hamilton suffered from a disappointing situation at the Monaco GP Qualifying after he unintentionally impeded Max Verstappen in Q2. The Briton had some miscommunication with the pit wall and came in the way of Verstappen. Still, the Dutchman was able to steer clear of the session and have a fair shot at the pole position. Now, the reigning world champion clarifies that Hamilton isn’t the one at fault and seems to hold no grudges.

Following the culmination of the Qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton approached Verstappen first to sort out the issues and end on a positive note. Max Verstappen, despite being unaware of the miscommunication, didn’t seem to mind the impeding incident and let go of the matter and shook hands with Hamilton. The Dutchman even clears the Briton of any wrongdoing and does not blame the latter for the incident at all.

Max Verstappen highlights that he is aware of the miscommunication between Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer Ricciardo Adami. The Dutchman pointed out that he was clearly driving very fast while Hamilton’s pit wall claimed the former to be over three seconds away. Verstappen pointed out that he chatted about it with the Briton and sorted the matter. Still, the Dutchman accepts that such mistakes should not happen despite being very simple to commit.

I saw the team told him I was driving slow when I was clearly driving fast, so it’s not Lewis’ fault. I quickly chatted to Lewis about it: it’s very simple, but it can’t happen. But that’s the team’s mistake.

Max Verstappen said in a post-session interview

Verstappen further lamented Hamilton getting a penalty for the incident without it being entirely his fault. The Dutchman reckoned that keeping in mind the history of penalties for impeding, the 40-year-old was likely to receive a big penalty. The reigning world champion highlighted that, despite the situation being the team’s fault, the driver was going to be penalized heavily as the FIA is quite strict on such issues.

If you look at the history of things, yes. But, again, its more the teams fault, but unfortunately in qualifying, they normally are quite strict on these things.

Max Verstappen added

Lewis Hamilton labels Monaco GP Qualifying a ‘fun’ outing

Lewis Hamilton couldn’t contend for a front-row start in Monaco due to Ferrari’s performance struggles being present. The Briton’s well-known qualifying problems added to the disappointment in Monaco. Now, the Briton is likely to face a big penalty despite the situation not being his to blame. Nevertheless, the 40-year-old enjoyed his time on-track.

Lewis Hamilton (via Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (via Ferrari)

Hamilton applauded Ferrari for its efforts this weekend, despite the recent struggles. The seven-time world champion claimed that he had fun around the circuit on Saturday. Though, the F1 star did admit that staying out of everyone’s way around the tight track was certainly a big challenge for everyone.

Team did an amazing job to recover the car, the guys worked so hard to fix it. Qualifying was so much fun around here [but] very difficult to keep out the way of everybody.

Lewis Hamilton said in a post-session interview

A compulsory two-stop strategy has been implemented for the Monaco GP to make the event more exciting. As such, anything can happen since the teams are not used to the two stops on the narrow lanes of Monaco. Hamilton will still have to work extremely hard, as Ferrari will need a miracle in strategy to emerge victorious in the race.

Read More: Max Verstappen Gives up on Expectations for Monaco GP After Dismal P5 in Qualifying