Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s 2021 rivalry appears to be spilling over once again, with the pair making the Austrian Grand Prix cool down room an unwelcoming place.
Following Verstappen’s 2nd place finish, and Hamilton’s 3rd, the duo met for an awkward encounter in the cool down room prior to the podium.
Verstappen was the first podium finisher to reach the cool down room, and sat down when Hamilton entered.
The seven-time World Champion followed his usual post-race procedure; he weighed himself, put his helmet down but then decided to leave the room.
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All of this was done without even looking at Verstappen, or acknowledging that he was there.
The reignition of their titanic 2021 rivalry comes after recent comments from both drivers.
Following on from Charles Leclerc’s overtake on Hamilton at Copse Corner at the British Grand Prix, Hamilton praised the Monegasque as “sensible”.
It was a dig at Verstappen, with the pair having collided at that same corner last season.
The reigning World Champion was quick to bite back.
“I think it’s great that, when you’re 37 years old, at some point you understand how to get to an apex,” the Red Bull driver sarcastically said.
The rivalry has also seen both drivers suffer from booing, with Verstappen on the receiving end of it at Silverstone, and Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring.
The same can be said for team principals Christian Horner and Toto Wolff, who have begun to clash again over rule changes.
However, Wolff has spoken out that he’s against all booing, as is Hamilton.
Once Hamilton left the room, Leclerc entered, which saw the cool down room silence come to an end.
Verstappen and race winner Leclerc briefly discussed Carlos Sainz’s fiery end to the GP.
The Spaniard suffered a catastrophic power unit fail whilst attempting to overtake Verstappen for 2nd.
On the run down to Turn 4, Sainz’ F1-75 burst into flames, with an explosion seen ripping through the side-pods.
It was possibly Ferrari’s worst PU failure yet, in a year which has seen them suffer from horrendous PU reliability.
“Did you see the fire?” asked Verstappen, to which Leclerc replied, “Yes.”
Verstappen then added: “You guys were fast today,” and the Ferrari driver simply replied, “I know.”