Lewis Hamilton dismissed Max Verstappen’s in-race call for him to be penalised after a thrilling battle between the pair during the Austrian Grand Prix, insisting that “you don’t drive around the outside of a champion”.
Red Bull driver Verstappen – who finished second at the Red Bull Ring, in between the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli – demanded Ferrari’s Hamilton be handed a penalty after the Brit’s defensive driving had forced him onto the gravel at Turn 6.
Hamilton endured a disappointing race after that, ending up in fifth place having started in third, as tyre issues, grip problems and a lack of pace heavily cost the Scuderia in Spielberg.
The seven-time world champion said of the Verstappen tussle: “It was great. Good fun.
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Ferrari pair Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were left despondent after finishing fifth and eighth respectively in Spielberg
“He went off on the outside. You don’t expect to go around the outside of a champion. I wouldn’t expect to go around the outside of him there and hold the line.
“He was behind at the apex and therefore should have backed out. I left him just enough room.”
Hamilton: Ferrari need to improve power deployment
Hamilton – whose team-mate Charles Leclerc finished down in eighth – added that Ferrari need to “push really hard” for a further power upgrade in order to compete with Mercedes and the other top teams, labelling the result in Austria a “reality check”.
The 41-year-old also said starting on the medium tyres was “suboptimal” and that if he had begun on the softs he would “maybe” have been able to snatch fourth place.
Hamilton, who secured his first race win since joining Ferrari last time out in Barcelona, told Sky Sports F1: “The car didn’t agree with any of the tyres. It was a very hard race.
Hamilton won at Barcelona last time out but had a difficult day at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday
“I was on the attack and it wasn’t looking too bad the first few laps, then my rear just dropped off on every set [of tyres]. The balance was very difficult.
“We are going to have to push really hard to see when we can get the next power upgrade. We have to look at why and how we can improve that but it’s not going to come for a while.
“It’s not necessarily power as when you come out of the corner you feel you have the grunt. It’s deployment at the end. Ours tails off. Mercedes, particularly, keep going.”
Speaking to the written media, Hamilton said: “[Mercedes] have got serious power at the end of the straights. Far more than everyone else this weekend but I don’t know where that’s coming from.”
Red Bull made a huge step this weekend. I think they must have brought a three-to-four-tenth upgrade. Three tenths was just from the weight they dropped from the car, which is huge. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming races.
‘Bad, lack of pace’ – Leclerc and Vasseur on Ferrari woes
Leclerc, who one point grumbled over the Ferrari team radio that his tyres were “****”, added: “It was pretty bad.
“I went into a set-up direction yesterday [Saturday] that I felt was a bit more similar to what felt good last year but this year it was never working. The rear was never there, I was just sliding around, overheating the rear tyres. It was very tricky.
“Nobody is really understanding the difference of performance from one weekend to another. In Barcelona, we were probably one of the strongest cars on the Sunday – we brought some upgrades that worked.
“I don’t think it was all down to the upgrades this weekend. It’s just these cars are very sensitive to wherever you place them. As soon as you are not in the right place with set-up, you pay the price a lot.”
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Team principal Frederic Vasseur explains to Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz why Ferrari struggled at the Austrian Grand Prix
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur also gave his assessment to Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz: “We didn’t have the pace to fight with Mercedes and Max Verstappen. We over-pushed the first couple of laps and had to change strategy.
“Everything went in the wrong direction but it’s a good lesson. We also paid the price for a poor Friday and not doing long stints.
“The target was to be in clean air, a bit like in Barcelona. It paid off there for Lewis as we were able to 80 per cent of the race in clean air. This weekend it was not the case at all.
“We will try to understand but we also paid the price for a poor Friday and not doing enough long stints.”
Next up in the 2026 Formula 1 season is the big one, a Sprint weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix – live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky One with coverage from Thursday to Sunday’s race at 3pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW.
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