Several Formula 1 fans were furious with reigning World Champion Max Verstappen after Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, following a radio conversation between the Dutchman and his race engineer.
Despite having started sixth, Verstappen stormed to his third win at Spa-Francorchamps in the last three years, whilst it also marked his eighth consecutive win this season.
His tally for 2023 has now reached 10 victories from 12 races, whilst Red Bull have won 13 in a row and every race this season.
Nobody can stop the two-time World Champion and Red Bull, although the 25-year-old’s race engineer did want him to reduce his pace.
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Mid-race, Gianpiero Lambiase asked Verstappen to use his “head a bit more” and look after his tyres, to ensure that he made it to the end of the race.
Due to having been in the lead so comfortably, the Red Bull star questioned if he could continue to “push on” and simply pit again, given that he’d remain in the lead.
Lambiase rejected Verstappen’s appeal to keep pushing, something which perhaps cost him the fastest lap of the race.
“This tyre had reasonable degradation in the first stint. I’d ask you to use your head a bit more,” said Lambiase to Verstappen.
“I could also push on and we do another stop? A little bit of pit stop training,” responded Verstappen.
“No. Not this time,” replied Lambiase.
Fans weren’t happy with Verstappen’s conversation with Lambiase and called out the driver’s “arrogance”, which one follower of the sport admitted was “growing out of control”.
Verstappen was accused of “mildly insulting” the rest of the grid, whilst he was slammed for showing a “lack of respect”.
“What a lack of sportsmanship. Huge damage to F1 this kind of attitude,” said a fan on social media.
READ: Max Verstappen breaks silence on clashing with his race engineer
“He needs humbled. His arrogance is growing out of control,” another Twitter user wrote.
Another fan said: “This is why I’m finding a hard time to find an iota of liking to Max. Funny trolling for his supporters, mildly insulting to the competition.”
Yet another fan commented: “What I don’t like about this, is the pure arrogance of it. He’s basically just mocking everyone else on the grid, which, in my opinion, shows a lack of respect for other drivers/teams.”