Max Verstappen was unimpressed at being told to give up the two positions he gained on the first lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver went off at the first corner when the race began, which moved him ahead of Lewis Hamilton. He gained another place from Andrea Kimi Antonelli as the Mercedes driver cut two corners on the opening lap.
Verstappen immediately got on his radio to justify his decision to cut the first corner to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. He claimed Hamilton had forced him off.
| Verstappen | Lewis just shunted to me, he was out of control. |
| Lambiase | Click boost. |
| Verstappen | If I didn’t move, he’d have shunted into me, I would have been ahead, one hundred percent. |
| Lambiase | Mode six, mode six. |
Replays indicated Verstappen had gone into the first corner a long way behind Hamilton. Lambiase told his driver that meant he wasn’t entitled to take the position.
However letting Hamilton past meant he would also have to let Antonelli by:
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| Lambiase | Max, we think we should give the position back to Hamilton, so that will mean letting Antonelli through as well. |
| Verstappen | Mate, what? |
| Lambiase | Outside car, trying to overtake on the outside, we think Hamilton was entitled not to leave you space. |
| Verstappen | What do you want to do? |
| Lambiase | Yes please, let’s give the gap, er, position back to Hamilton. |
| Verstappen | Oh, what stupid shit this is. Losing fucking time. |
Verstappen’s frustration was compounded when Hamilton, whose car was developing a brake problem, went off ahead of him. He quickly regained his place from the Ferrari, but letting him by had cost him a place to Antonelli.
| Lambiase | Car behind Hamilton. Watch Leclerc. |
| Verstappen | [[[Hamilton goes off]]]He can give me the position now. [Unclear] |
| Verstappen | Fucking Mickey Mouse racing, this is. |
| Verstappen | It’s still oscillating a lot, it at again, same as in three or not, it feels a bit loose. |
| Lambiase | Stand by. The car behind is now Leclerc. Hamilton’s fallen quite far behind. I think he’s struggling with brakes. |
| So, Norris. Just look after the front left tyre at this stage, the field spread is very low. |
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