abuse
Max Verstappen has called title rival Lewis Hamilton a ‘stupid idiot’ after a bizarre drag race during practice at the US Grand Prix.
Red Bull had a poor start to the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, almost a second off rivals Mercedes in first practice, before making up ground in the second session.
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Championship leader Verstappen had a difficult first outing, failing to complete his short-run due to traffic.
Then in the second session he found himself squaring up alongside Hamilton on the start/finish straight.
The inseparable title rivals were side by side heading up to turn one, with Hamilton passing the Dutchman into the hairpin left hander.
Verstappen was picked up calling Hamilton a “stupid idiot” on his team radio, before sticking his middle finger out of the car at the seven time world champion.
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The pair had been jostling for clear air leading up to the incident, which Verstappen later commented on.
“Yeah I don't know, I mean we were all lining up to go for a lap,” he said.
“So I don't really understand what happened there.”
A frustrated Verstappen then commented on his poor FP1 performance when he failed to put in a fast time.
“On the soft tyre I didn't put a lap, but overall, it's not easy out there you know,” he said.
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“The track is quite bumpy and to find the right compromise with the car hasn't been the easiest so far.
“But I mean, there are a few positive things to look at. And we'll continue to work on that also overnight.
“It didn't particularly feel bad on the short run, it was just a mess with the traffic.”
The 24-year-old currently leads the world championship by six points over Hamilton, and has continually been praised for his maturity during one of the tightest title bouts the sport has ever seen.
Mind games have largely been kept off the table between the pair despite a number of on-track incidents, with today’s frustration likely down to Mercedes' increased pace.
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner sounded fearful of his opponents straight-line speed when the Mercedes was comfortably faster at the Turkish GP, and pondered an engine loophole.
However, footage has since emerged of the Mercedes’ suspension dropping on the straights, alleviating downforce pushing the car onto the track, allowing it to increase speed.
Horner has since said he believes the technology is legal, but added that it will have less of an impact at the Circuit of the Americas.
“I think Mercedes are obviously optimising a straight-line device that they are able to do at that type of circuit,” Horner told Sky F1.
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“If you look at the rear of their car, you know, how it lowers. I think [Turkey] played to their strengths.”
His opposite number at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, has since dismissed the comments as ‘noise’.
The Austrian said: "I think we recognise absolutely that this is a sport where competitors will always try to find out if there is some kind of silver bullet.
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"My experience is there is no such thing, it’s all the small gains, marginal gains that have been added and bring performance.
"We’re trying to really comprehend our car better and add performance in lap time without listening too much to the noise."
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