|
The Mercedes driver clashed with the
20-year-old on the second lap in Bahrain last weekend, each
blaming the other for an incident that led to the Red Bull
driver's race retirement.
Verstappen is the rising star of Formula One, already the winner
of three races and a driver Hamilton rates as a future champion,
but the Briton was critical of how the Dutchman drove at Sakhir
on Sunday.
"They (Red Bull) have a car which should be getting good
results, but through inexperience, or not mature decisions, they
are not," Hamilton told reporters.
"Max should have had a decent race. If (McLaren's) Fernando
(Alonso) was in their car, he would have got points for Red
Bull. If I was in their car, I would have got points for Red
Bull.
"I hope he (Verstappen) is learning through these situations. I
went through that when I was younger so I know how it is. It is
easy to get ahead of yourself and forget to respect the other
guys that you are racing against."
Hamilton, 33, said Verstappen, who crashed in the first phase of
qualifying in Bahrain and started 15th, had "fantastic pace" but
young drivers did not always make the right decisions.
Red Bull are fourth in the championship after two races, behind
Renault-powered rivals McLaren, despite having a car that looked
in testing to be on a par with Ferrari -- winners in Australia
and Bahrain.
The team's other driver, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, retired
early on in Bahrain with an electrical failure.
Vertappen won two races last season, ending the season strongly.
Hamilton finished third in Bahrain, after starting ninth due to
a grid penalty for a gearbox change, and he suffered
communications problems during the race.
The Briton said that was something the team needed to address
and would discuss ahead of this weekend's race in Shanghai.
"I was driving around in kind of no-man's land for a while, but
that's just something we need to work on. The radio wasn't
working properly. And in the heat of the moment, it's very
difficult to know what information you need to give," he said.
"They couldn't hear me, I could hear them. But they would always
come back saying 'I can't hear you'.
"And obviously then when you do try to give feedback on a
corner, you're taking your mind off driving a perfect line."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by John O'Brien)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
