“They Were Both Cocky” – F1 Legend Demands Introspection From Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen After Crashes

The 2021 season has seen pretty much everything so far when it comes to rivalry, thanks to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Not only were the two often ending up racing each other on the track, but few of the battles have had the worst possible end results too.

Of course, two of the biggest incidents involving Hamilton and Verstappen are the lap 1 crash at Silverstone and the lap 24 crash at Monza. While the former was a 51G crash, the latter was much subtle, although Hamilton had one of the Red Bull’s tires have a scrape with his neck.

Formula One F1 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain – July 18, 2021 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leads at the start of the race ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

Hence, following both the crashes, Verstappen and Hamilton complained of physical struggles. The Dutchman had to run his body through a series of tests in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the 7-time world champion received acupuncture to get rid of the neck discomfort following the Italian GP.

But, Sir Jackie Stewart, former F1 world champion, isn’t keen on falling for the duo’s show. Despite affirming that Verstappen wouldn’t have survived the crash back in his day, the 82-year-old noticed a bit of exaggeration.

In my time Max Verstappen would have died: Stewart

The 3-time world champion opined that both the drivers have exaggerated their crashes, as the modern-day F1 cars are too secure. “I think that both of them are currently exaggerating it a bit. We saw that in at least two situations,” he told Motorsport-Magazin.

“I hope we will remember it in the most positive way possible because I don’t want anything bad to happen, even though motorsport is so safe these days. The accident that happened at Silverstone – in my time he would have died.”

Formula One F1 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain – July 18, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen before the race Pool via REUTERS/Lars Baron

Stewart further revealed why the increase in driver’s safety has caused a lot of on-track incidents in recent times. According to the Briton, the drivers these days often get “too cocky” and a bit too ambitious. “I think the problem at Silverstone was that they both did things that they shouldn’t have done so early in the race,” he said.

“I think they were both cocky. The sport has changed and is safer than ever before. Therefore, the penalties are not the same. Maybe they take themselves Drivers too much freedom and I think that should be avoided.”

Overall, what do you think about Stewart’s claim? Do you think Verstappen and Hamilton were exaggerating the aftermath of their crashes in Silverstone and Monza? Let us know in the comments.

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