Nico Rosberg and Christian Horner clash again after Hamilton beats Verstappen

23 July 2023 , 12:04

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Lewis Hamilton took his first pole in more than 18 months in Budapest (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Christian Horner attempted to play down Lewis Hamilton's pole lap which upstaged Max Verstappen in Budapest – but Nico Rosberg was quick to call out the Red Bull chief.

The Dutchman was gunning for six pole positions in a row and was favourite to do so. But Hamilton managed a brilliant lap right at the end of qualifying to narrowly snatch top spot.

It was the seven-time world champion's first pole since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. And it was an indicator of how much progress his Mercedes team has made over the last couple of months.

According to Red Bull chief Horner, though, there is still some way for the Silver Arrows to go. He suggested after qualifying that Hamilton was only able to take pole because of a small mistake made by his driver.

He told Sky Sports: "All credit to Mercedes, it was a very strong lap at the end there. You can see their history with the amount of poles, and particularly Lewis here. We left a little bit on the table, Max had a little snap at turn 16, but the front row is still very good."

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But pundit Rosberg was quick to respond, pointing out that Hamilton's lap was not perfect either. The German retorted: "I think Lewis actually left a little bit on the road there too. He had a similar snap in the last two [corners] so maybe it's not too dissimilar."

The 2016 champion, who spent four seasons as Hamilton's team-mate at Mercedes, went on to add: "That lap there, I just saw it. It's like perfection, it's an art. Only Lewis Hamilton could do that on such days, no-one could have gone, not even a hundredth quicker."

It is not the first time in recent weeks that Rosberg and Horner have had a difference of opinion on live TV. It also happened after the Spanish Grand Prix last month, when discussing Sergio Perez who had started 11th and finished fourth.

Nico Rosberg and Christian Horner disagreed over how Hamilton was able to snatch pole from Verstappen (Sky Sports)

Horner was positive about the Mexican's performance, and said: "It was a good recovery from Checo, especially the second part of the race and I think that will give him a lot more confidence. Checo's race was getting stronger and stronger. That last stint in particular he was coming back very strong, but there were just not enough laps to fight for that podium."

But Rosberg was quite so impressed and replied: "You were just saying he did a good race but I thought it was quite a lack of performance, especially during the early part of the race. Isn't that true? I mean, comparing to Max there were some laps where there was quite a gap."

And Horner's retort to that was: "You're a critical kind of guy, aren't you? You're tough on these guys. Now you're out of the car you have to criticise all the guys."

Daniel Moxon