Lewis Hamilton praised by former Red Bull driver for his 2021 Abu Dhabi reaction: "It was fantastic"

Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard praised Lewis Hamilton for his mature behavior after the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. The Briton was denied a record-breaking eighth title win by Max Verstappen on the final lap of the race at Yas Marina.

Hamilton was en route to breaking Michael Schumacher's title record in 2021 when a controversial late safety car allowed Verstappen to take his first title in the sport. While the conditions under which Verstappen won the title were controversial, former driver David Coulthard lauded the Mercedes driver's maturity in the face of adversity. The Scotsman, however, suspected that a younger Lewis Hamilton might have handled the situation differently and claimed that the Briton's maturity was probably a result of his vast experience in the sport.

Speaking at a Red Bull event in Dublin, Coulthard said:

“The way Lewis handled it was fantastic. Maybe when he was younger, it would have been more difficult to do that. But he’s in his late 30s, he’s done a few laps, and I think with age comes maturity. The benefit of youth is you don’t know, so you’re not scared of anything. As you get older, you obviously start to understand consequences and things like that. But that maturity I think enables you to deal with different situations.”

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Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Max Verstappen to blame for 2022 F1 Brazilian GP incident, claims reporter

Veteran F1 reporter Mark Hughes claims that neither Max Verstappen nor Lewis Hamilton are to blame for their infamous clash at the 2022 Brazilian GP in November. The 2021 title rivals collided in Sao Paulo, going into the Senna Esses.

Verstappen received car damage and a five-second penalty for allegedly being at fault for the collision. Hughes, however, believes neither driver was at fault for the incident, as both drive differently when racing against each other.

Hughes spoke about Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's rivalry on Motor Sport Magazine's season review podcast, saying:

“Brazil was one of those occasions [with Lewis saying] ‘I know what you’re trying to do and you’re not going to do it’, and Max was saying, ‘I know what you’re going to do and I’m coming through anyway’. They’re both entitled to do that, they’re both racing drivers and I don’t think there’s any blame there."

Hughes noted that the Dutchman leaves a lot more room when battling against Charles Leclerc as compared to Hamilton, perhaps given their previous animosity. The Briton also claims Hamilton is sometimes inconsistent when racing against the two-time world champion, leading to frequent collisions between the two.

However, only time will tell whether the two mammoths of the sport will go wheel-to-wheel consistently in 2023.