‘Don’t go around the outside of a champion’ - Lewis Hamilton unimpressed with Max Verstappen penalty plea after epic F1 Austrian GP fight

Lewis Hamilton has dismissed Max Verstappen’s calls for a penalty during their epic Formula 1 battle at the Austrian Grand Prix. 

Old F1 title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen engaged in a breathtaking mid-race battle for second place in Austria, with the pair trading places on several laps but managing to keep things clean despite some fierce wheel-to-wheel racing. 

Hamilton was noted for potentially forcing Verstappen off the track as the Red Bull driver tried to hang it around the outside of the Ferrari and dipped a wheel into the gravel, but the stewards ultimately saw no reason to investigate the incident further. 

Four-time world champion Verstappen was heard demanding that Hamilton should be handed a penalty for his defensive driving, but the seven-time world champion had a clear message for the Dutchman after the race. 

"It was great. Good fun,” 41-year-old Hamilton said of their thrilling duel. 

"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.”

Verstappen’s stance on the fight appeared to cool after the race, saying: “I was closing the gap even after the battles that I had with Lewis. It was cool, but it made us of course lose quite a bit of time.”

Verstappen ultimately went on to secure Red Bull’s best result of the season by finishing second as he split the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. 

Ferrari would go on to endure a difficult race, with Hamilton unable to repeat his victory heroics from Barcelona as he slipped back to fifth at the chequered flag, three places ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc. 

“The car didn't agree with any of the tyres. It was a very hard race,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. 

"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."