Hamilton questions Verstappen’s maturity

Manama : Lewis Hamilton has questioned Max Verstappen’s maturity after their Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix clash, suggesting a driver with greater experience would have finished the race.

The pair made contact exiting the first corner in the early part of the race when Verstappen ran out wide to squeeze Hamilton.

The Mercedes driver escaped without damage, but Verstappen suffered a broken wheel and a puncture, while a differential failure caused his retirement.

Responding to comments from Verstappen’s Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who suggested the incident was one viewers wanted to see, Hamilton said: “It’s interesting to hear from Christian.

“They’ve got a car that should be getting good results.

“Through these kind of - I don’t know if they’re inexperienced or not totally mature - decisions, they are not getting the results they should.

“He [Verstappen] should have finished a decent race, because he’s good enough.

“I think to myself if Fernando [Alonso] was in that car he would have finished a decent race and got points for Red Bull.

“I like to think if I was in that car I would have got points.

“I hope for them he’s learning through whatever situation he’s going through. I went through that stuff when I was a young guy. 

“It’s easy to get ahead of yourself and forget the respect for other guys you’re racing with.”