By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) – Max Verstappen’s driving style has been heavily criticised of late but Lewis Hamilton said little had changed since they fought for the title down to the last lap of the 2021 Formula One season.
Red Bull’s reigning champion, who denied Hamilton an eighth title in a season full of incidents, was twice penalised in Mexico last Sunday for forcing his McLaren title rival Lando Norris wide and going off and gaining an advantage.
“All you have to do is just go and look back and listen to some of my radio comments back in the day,” Hamilton told reporters when asked about Norris saying the triple world champion was “dangerous”.
“I don’t think you’re seeing much difference across the years from 2021 to now. It’s pretty much the same,” added the Briton, speaking ahead of Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Championship leader Verstappen hit back at critics, saying in a separate press conference he knew what he was doing.
“I’ve heard that before in my career,” Verstappen said when asked about whether he would change his driving style. “It’s my 10th year in Formula One, I think I know what I’m doing.”
Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit saw one of the memorable 2021 battles between Hamilton and Verstappen, when both went off track while fighting for the lead in a race won by the Mercedes driver as they fought neck-and-neck for the title.
Verstappen ended up winning the championship after overtaking Hamilton on the last lap of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, claiming his first world title.
Drivers had a meeting after the Mexican race that Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, described as “positive” given the incidents on track.
“Actions that should have been punished were punished,” Russell told reporters in Sao Paulo.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Alan Baldwin and Ken Ferris)
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