Reuters
Monza, Sept 3: Formula One’s (F1) governing body has given Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a ‘gentle warning’ about his driving after a controversial Belgian Grand Prix, team principal Christian Horner said here Saturday. However, current World Champion Lewis Hamilton has backed the young Dutchman and asked all and sundry to give the 18-year-old ‘a break’
“(FIA race director) Charlie (Whiting) was keen to show him (Verstappen) a replay of Spa,” Horner said. “It was a gentle warning to say ‘that will be a black and white flag’…a bit of a warning.
A black and white flag can be waved, once only, at a driver during a race to warn him that he has been reported for unsporting behaviour. If the driver does it again, a black flag will be shown which tells him he has been excluded and must return immediately to the pits.
Verstappen tangled with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel at the start in Spa and then aggressively defended against Raikkonen when the Finn tried to pass later in the race.
Hamilton, however, has hailed Verstappen’s stunning success in F1 and called on those criticising the Dutch teenager’s driving to keep a sense of perspective.
“He has grabbed the opportunity with both hands… First, give the guy a break, he is 18 years old. What the heck were any of us doing at 18?” the triple World Champion told British reporters at the Italian Grand Prix here.
“He has won a Grand Prix title. The pressure on his young shoulders is something most people will not be able to comprehend,” Hamilton added.
Hamilton however, stated that Verstappen had plenty to learn like any youngster. But he said the man who became the youngest ever race winner in Spain this year on his Red Bull debut, and started on the front row in Belgium last weekend, was clearly an exceptional talent.
“I don’t know what I would have been like at 18 on track, but I would have made lots of mistakes,” pointed out Hamilton. “I just see a young, talented kid who just seems to have an enormous amount of raw talent.”
