Max Verstappen was left frustrated when Lewis Hamilton hesitated to re-pass him after Verstappen slowed during the sprint race.
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The sequence began on lap eight when Verstappen, having gone off at turn 11 while overtaking a Ferrari, was instructed to give the place back. “Max overtook me going off-track,” Hamilton reported to his team, while Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase told his driver: “It’s best you give the position back to Hamilton.”
Verstappen slowed on the straight approaching turn 17 to comply, but Hamilton did not immediately take the opportunity to pass. “Why is he not taking it? Fuck’s sake,” Verstappen exclaimed over the radio as he and Hamilton both reduced speed and the Mercedes pair began to pull away.
Hamilton eventually made the move as they exited turn 17; if he had completed the pass before the corner, Verstappen might have had a stronger chance to overtake into turn one. In the end, Verstappen reclaimed the position on the next lap at turn 17.
After the race Verstappen said Hamilton’s hesitation cost both drivers time. “I had to let him by, but he didn’t come by, so we lose four seconds because he just stays behind me,” he told Sky. “That’s where we wasted our time. I don’t know what else I could have done there, so that’s a bit of a shame.”
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The incident echoed a more controversial moment from the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, when a similar instruction led to contact. In that case Verstappen was told to let Hamilton past and slowed approaching the DRS activation line; Hamilton did not immediately pass, Verstappen braked sharply and the two collided, with Verstappen later penalised for causing the incident. While no collision occurred this time, Hamilton’s reluctance to pass quickly shows he remains cautious of opponents’ tactics when asked to reclaim a position.
The episode also highlighted that Verstappen follows team instructions to yield, despite previous errors. Last year in Spain, Lambiase advised Verstappen to let George Russell through after they went off-track, a call the stewards later said was unnecessary.
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