Lewis Hamilton feels Max Verstappen didn't act like a champion at the 2024 F1 Hungarian GP

Lewis Hamilton has given his verdict on Max Verstappen's criticism of Red Bull in Hungary and said that the driver didn't act like a world champion. The race in Budapest saw the Dutch driver being uncharacteristically angry during the race. Verstappen was shouting on the team radio throughout the race, and the anger just kept increasing as the race went on.

He was not happy with the balance of the car early in the race. Then there was disagreement over giving up his position to Lando Norris early in the race for overtaking him off-track.

Finally, Red Bull's strategy to go for the overcut where they extended Max Verstappen's stint to use the fresh tyre advantage later was something the driver was not onboard with.

Add all that up, and we had Verstappen furious on the team radio, which was followed by a moment where he was even rebuked by his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.

Lewis Hamilton was questioned about the driver's behavior, and the Mercedes man said that one has to consider himself a part of the team. As quoted by PlanetF1, he said:

"You have to be a team leader, a team member. Maybe not such a team leader but just always remember you’re a team-mate with lots of people and you have to act like a World Champion.”

When questioned what it meant when he said 'behaving like a world champion', Lewis Hamilton said:

“That’s a good question! Not like it was last weekend.”

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Lewis Hamilton surprised at stewards verdict for Max Verstappen clash

Lewis Hamilton expressed surprise at the stewards' verdict on the clash with Max Verstappen during the race in Hungary.

According to the stewards, the clash was deemed a racing incident, as the Mercedes driver could have avoided the clash. Hamilton took umbrage to the verdict. Admitting his surprise, he said:

“Yes. Very much so. I was really, really surprised by it. I think already I was very relaxed about the situation just saying: ‘Look, it’s just a racing incident, let’s just move on.’"

He added:

“But considering one car was in control and one car was not in control at the time. Obviously, when all the wheels are locked, you’re not in control.

"And if you look at the replay, at the end of the whole move I’m very, very far from the apex – there’s a lot of room on the right-hand side – so I was very, very surprised. That will be a question when I speak to [the stewards] at some stage.”

It will be interesting to hear Max Verstappen's take on Hamilton's comments. The Red Bull driver has more or less tended to distance himself from any personal comments about other drivers, though.