Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen has had the last laugh following comments made by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and rival Lewis Hamilton at the recent Italian Grand Prix, after the Dutchman won yet again.
Verstappen fought hard to claim his 12th victory of 2023 and his 10th in a row, something which saw him eclipse Sebastian Vettel’s record for nine consecutive victories.
It’s a record which very few thought would ever get beaten, although Mercedes boss Wolff is seemingly less than impressed by Verstappen’s feat.
When asked for his view on Verstappen’s achievement at Monza, Wolff insisted that it’s just “for Wikipedia”.
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“It is not something that would be important for me, those numbers, are for Wikipedia and nobody reads that anyway,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
The Austrian later slammed Verstappen’s record as “completely irrelevant”.
Hamilton made a similar comment and insisted that he doesn’t “care” about statistics, before sarcastically saying “Good for him”.
“I mean I don’t care about statistics in general. Good for him,” Hamilton told media including PlanetF1.com.
Both Wolff and Hamilton were criticised for their responses to Verstappen’s record, with many slamming the Mercedes duo as being unsportsmanlike.
Ex-F1 drivers Martin Brundle and Damon Hill were both disappointed by Wolff’s and Hamilton’s comments, given that Mercedes know better than anybody just how challenging it is to be so dominant.
Verstappen is seemingly aware of what was said about him by the Mercedes pair, which has led to him having a shot back.
The Dutchman is reported as having said to a journalist that Hamilton is a six-time World Champion, before insisting that he doesn’t “read Wikipedia” when the journalist tried to correct him about Hamilton’s championship tally.
“With Lewis, I don’t know for sure but I mean for someone who has won six World Championships, you must know…” Verstappen is quoted as having said by The Express.
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“It is seven. It’s in the history books. You can look it up,” the reporter replied.
To which Verstappen asked: “Are you sure it’s seven, not six?
“I mean, I’m not very sure, you know. I don’t read Wikipedia.”