‘Not surprised’: Max Verstappen lashes out at Lewis Hamilton fans

Max Verstappen is set to wrap up his second world title at the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen is particularly displeased by some of the comments being made by other teams about Red Bull’s alleged breach of the financial regulations.

The Dutchman won the world championship last season, beating Sir Lewis Hamilton in the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi, but some fans are now calling for the standings to be reversed.

Formula 1 imposed its first budget cap last year, which stood at $145 million, and there are three categories of contravention of the rules.

One of them is a procedural breach, which tends to occur when a team has failed to document their spending, or submits their paperwork late.

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Williams were guilty of missing the deadline for last year’s documentation, so they were fined earlier on in 2022.

Red Bull and Aston Martin were mentioned in a report last week that indicated that two teams had overspent last year.

Overspending by less than five percent is deemed a minor overspend, while anything over five percent is a material breach.

Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, indicated at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix that the Milton Keynes-based team had gone over by more than five percent.

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One of the punishments for this is exclusion from the championship, but Red Bull are seething at the allegations, and team principal, Christian Horner, is said to be considering legal action for defamation.

As far as Verstappen is aware, his team have no reason to be concerned about any punishment, as he believes everything was done by the book.

“What I hear from the team is that everything was done correctly, I don’t value it [the speculation],” he told de Telegraaf. 

“I know where it comes from and which people are complaining about it.”

The reigning champion is “not surprised” at the suggestions from the media that he might be forced to relinquish his world title if Red Bull are found to have broken the rules.

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“Yes, especially in England I am not surprised, but I have no fear of it,” explained Verstappen.

“It is the other teams talking when they cannot have all the information. I think that’s a bit stupid. What do I think? Just shut up.”

Verstappen finished seventh in Singapore after encountering a litany of issues in qualifying and the race, but he is still well on course to wrap up his second world title in Japan this weekend.