31 July 2023 , 09:03
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Lewis Hamilton referenced a line from Austin Powers villain Goldmember as he responded to a question about rival Max Verstappen after the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman won the Spa-Francorchamps race at a canter. Despite starting sixth and four places behind team-mate Sergio Perez, Verstappen was 22 seconds up the road from the other Red Bull when he took the chequered flag.
Hamilton was more than 49 seconds adrift of Verstappen. While the 25-year-old was his bitter Formula 1 title rival just 18 months ago, he is currently powerless to put up a fight in his Mercedes.
So significant is Verstappen's advantage over everyone that he was even cracking jokes over the radio. Miles ahead of teammate Perez, he even asked his race engineer if he could push far enough up the road to put in "a little bit of pit stop practice".
Hamilton made the reference to the 2002 movie when asked about Verstappen's mindset after the race. "What do you want me to say? I have not spoken to him," he replied, before adding: "He is having a smoke and a pancake. You know the film?" In the movie, Dutch villain Goldmember – real name Johann van der Smut – asks titular character Powers if he would "like a smoke and a pancake?"
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It was clear after the race that Hamilton had bigger things to worry about than what Verstappen was thinking. The seven-time world champion admitted that he experienced significant bouncing during the Grand Prix, sparking fears that Mercedes' porpoising woes might have returned.
Hamilton joked about Verstappen's dominance after the Belgium race (Getty Images)"It was an uneventful race, really, not much going on. I wasn't able to keep up with the cars ahead and struggled at the beginning," he said. "At the end I was keeping within a few seconds of the Ferrari, but I couldn't get any closer to battle.
"And then, to get the fastest lap at the end, it was nice to have the gap to the car behind. It was gusty today and very difficult out there on track. The rear end is our biggest issue, and then we had big bouncing this weekend. We're back to the bouncing like we had last year."
Asked how serious of an issue it is for his team, he replied: "They don't know. To me it is a concern. We'll work through the data this week and then try to figure out what we'll do for the next race. I don't really have any more answers for you. I know what I want and I'm praying for it. I'm just waiting for the day we get it."