“Nobody does that”: Lewis Hamilton suspects deliberate Max Verstappen mistake

“Nobody does that”: Lewis Hamilton suspects deliberate Max Verstappen mistake

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

The stage is set for one of the most clutch formula 1 season endings as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are going to lock horns at Yas Marina in less than 10 hours to decide who emerges as the world champion in 2021. Having given their all, in the current season, there is no denying that both drivers deserve a lot of appreciation but only among these two is going to walk at as the winner in Abu Dhabi GP. 

However, after Verstappen clinched the pole in Saturday’s qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton suspected that Max Verstappen deliberately locked up during the second phase of qualifying session, before switching from medium to soft compound tyre. While Hamilton continued on Mediums, Verstappen came back out on a set of Softs to secure his place in the pole position shootout, where he comfortably came out on top. Which in turn means that the defending champion will start the race on the more durable Medium tyres, while Verstappen lines up on Softs. 

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What was opinionated by Lewis Hamilton? 

Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen

Speaking after qualifying as per RacingNews365, Hamilton admitted that Red Bull were out of reach and pondered whether Verstappen’s mistake might have been deliberate, as the rivals prepare for their championship showdown. 

“Jeez, they were so quick today,” Hamilton said of Verstappen and Red Bull. “In that last run, we couldn’t match them. They did a great job. It was looking really, really strong up until then, through all of practice. I’m not necessarily surprised, because if you think about the last race, he [Verstappen] was four-tenths up on that one lap [in qualifying]. They have a very, very fast car. When it comes together, they’ll be ahead.” 

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton continued, “[It’s] interesting that they locked up at Turn 1 and all that kind of stuff. I’m a conspiracist, no one locks up at Turn 1, and if you do, it’s not a big lock-up. 

“They obviously deliberately chose to go onto the Softs, in my opinion – I might be wrong. But I hope what we’re on is the right one.” 

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