Hamilton has a dig at ‘irrelevant’ Rosberg

Michelle Foster
Lewis-Hamilton-smiling-PA

Lewis-Hamilton-smiling-PA

Not done with laughing at Max Verstappen’s criticism of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton has called his former team-mate “irrelevant”.

Verstappen recently had a go at 2016 World Champion Rosberg after the German yet again criticised him on his YouTube channel.

Saying Verstappen was back to his old tricks after an early mistake in Belgium, Verstappen hit back.

“I am not very interested in what he says on his channels,” the Red Bull driver told Dutch publication Telegraaf.

“I think he is the new Jacques Villeneuve. He [Villeneuve] has come around, but now it looks like it’s Rosberg who constantly wants to share a controversial opinion.

“Maybe he wants to attract viewers or something? He does it very often. At the beginning of this year he called me a narcissist. That is very extreme.

“Maybe he wants to earn money with his YouTube channel. If he have driven on longer, he could have earned much more.”

Hamilton read Verstappen’s response online and posted a screenshot of the article with the words “This had me in stitches!” followed by a clapping emoji.

Facing the media in the wake of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked for his thoughts on ‘a former World Champion being so explicit about how modern day F1 drivers talk’.

He replied: “I don’t really think much of it, to be honest.

“I thought it was really funny – I think Max is generally a really funny guy so I was cracking up when I saw it.”

Not done, he had a dig at drivers becoming “irrelevant” after they retire and making comments in order to try keep them in the spotlight.

He added: “It’s interesting because obviously we know what it’s like – all the drivers have all been here and know what it’s like being criticised from the public and when [they are] in the sport moan about being criticised by people from the outside and then when drivers retire they become those critics, so it’s an interesting dynamic.

“And also some of those… unfortunately drivers become irrelevant when they retire and ultimate have to hang on to utilise other people’s light to keep them in the light and so… but that’s the way of sport, I guess.”

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