Lewis Hamilton could not resist aiming an apparent cheeky dig at Max Verstappen after coming home in seventh place at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Mercedes ace gained several positions but was unable to get himself on the podium in Sin City in spite of his best efforts, while Verstappen took victory to register his 18th win of the campaign.
The race certainly managed to live up to expectations, with plenty of action unfolding over the course of the 50-lap contest despite initial concerns that it would fail to warrant the hype. Verstappen was a vocal critic throughout the weekend as he regularly accused F1 of making the ‘show’ the main priority instead of the actual racing, a view shared by many fans and pundits alike.
Hamilton, however, was quick to insist that the doubters were proven wrong in what seemed to be a thinly-veiled dig at his Red Bull rival.
“There were lots of great overtaking opportunities and I think for all those who were so negative about the weekend, saying it was all about show, blah blah blah, I think Vegas proved them wrong,” said Hamilton in his post-race interview.
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It came after Verstappen intensified his criticism of the Las Vegas Grand Prix prior to the start of the race, with the Dutchman unfazed by the glitz and glamour in Sin City. He used a football analogy to express his disdain for the event, saying: “I think Monaco is like the Champions League, this is National League.
“I love Vegas but not to drive in a Formula One car. I love to have a few drinks, throw everything on red, have some nice food but emotions, passion? It’s not there compared to some old-school tracks. It’s more about the proper race tracks, Spa, Monza. Seeing the fans there is incredible and when I jump in the car I am fired up and I love driving around these places.”
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Verstappen did appear to backtrack on his comments after taking the chequered flag ahead of Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez, expressing his delight over the quality of the wheel-to-wheel racing in Las Vegas.
He said: “The DRS around here was very powerful. Even when you would take the lead if the guy behind stays in the DRS, he would still have the opportunity to come back to you, so it created a lot of good racing today. Definitely a lot of fun, great crowd. I hope everyone enjoyed it. We definitely did, so already excited to come back here next year and hopefully try to do something similar.”
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