Lewis Hamilton risks angering Max Verstappen yet again as Mercedes plot surprise

Lewis Hamilton shows off his impressive surfing skills

The rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is heating up ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix after the Red Bull man took exception to a recent claim made by his Mercedes counterpart. Hamilton called on the FIA to introduce rules to restrict teams from developing future cars too early, with the aim of preventing spells of dominance lasting for several years.

“I think the FIA should probably put a time when everyone is allowed to start developing for the next year’s car,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “So August 1, that’s when everybody can start so that no one can get an advantage from the next year, because that sucks.”

Hamilton’s comments went on to provoke a stern response from Verstappen, who felt that his British rival was being somewhat hypocritical after previously enjoying his own period of dominance at Mercedes.

“We weren’t talking about that when he was winning his championships, right? So I don’t think we should now, that’s how Formula One works,” declared the Dutchman.

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Mercedes to spring a surprise?

Emerson Fittipaldi is expecting Mercedes to compete for victory at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix if everything lines up for the Silver Arrows at the Red Bull Ring.

“Austria could be an exciting race because the teams are getting more competitive and are balanced,” the Brazilian legend told Wettfreunde.

“If it rains, a lot of things can change. We could have a surprise from Mercedes because it looks like Lewis is coming back and they’re getting the act together.

“When I hear Toto Wolff say that they have new upgrades for the next few Grands Prix, it won’t be a big surprise if Mercedes run very strong now.”

Hamilton responds to Verstappen row

Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he was not digging out Max Verstappen by asking the FIA to prevent teams from developing next year’s cars too early.

However, the Brit made it clear that his views on the matter have not changed despite the recent criticism from his Dutch rival.

“It’s not like aimed at any one particular person or anything,” Hamilton told Crash.net.

“It’s just that obviously in my 17 years of being here… before even I got here, you would see periods of dominance. It continues to happen.

“I was really fortunate to have one of those periods that Max is having now but with the way it’s going, it will continue to happen over and over again, and I don’t think we need that in the sport.

“Just from my personal experience, when you’re so far ahead, you’re 100 points ahead, you don’t really need to do a lot more development on your car, so you can start earlier on your next car.”

Good morning

Hello and welcome to Express Sport‘s rolling coverage of the latest F1 news ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.

We’ll be bringing you the biggest stories throughout the day as we continue to look forward to this weekend’s race, so grab a coffee and stay tuned…

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