Max Verstappen snapped back at Lewis Hamilton after the Brit's criticism of his Red Bull team-mates.
The Mercedes driver took aim at his Formula 1 rival's success earlier in this Italian Grand Prix weekend. Not only did Hamilton play down the Dutchman's achievements, suggesting what he has done over the last two years has been nothing special, but he also claimed Verstappen has had an easier ride.
"I'm no more impressed than when Michael [Schumacher] was leading, when Sebastian [Vettel] was leading when Kimi [Raikkonen] was driving, when Fernando [Alonso] was winning – it's just the same," the seven-time world champion said when asked about Verstappen's accomplishments.
He went on to add: ""In my personal opinion, all my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates Max has had – Jenson [Button], Fernando, George [Russell], Valtteri [Bottas], Nico [Rosberg]. I've had so many. These guys have all been very, very strong, very consistent – and Max has not raced against anyone like that."
Those words were posed to Verstappen as he spoke to reporters in Monza. In response, Verstappen bristled as he took aim at both Hamilton and his Mercedes team, and retorted: "Maybe he's a little jealous of my current success.
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"This kind of statement... he possibly thinks he's winning something with that, but it makes no difference to me. I think Mercedes have a very hard time dealing with losing, after all these years of winning so much.
"At some point, you have to be realistic and then you have to be able to appreciate what other teams are doing. We did the same when they were dominant and we also said, 'We have to work harder because we are not good enough'. You can keep shouting and screaming that what we do is not that special... you just have to deal with yourself."
Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle was also surprised by Hamilton's words, but thinks he knows what the Brit was hoping to achieve. He said: "That's Lewis' opinion and he very firmly put it out there. He's not going to give Max an ounce of oxygen, or anything, to pick him up. I'm surprised just how hard he was.
"Of course, Lewis has had strong team-mates but I wouldn't write off the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez, who Max has had alongside him. They are world-class racing drivers. Lewis just doesn't want to give anything away, does he?"
"To win at the rate Lewis has done, 103 victories, and the rate Max is, and to keep the mental aspect going every week in different tracks and weather conditions, is extraordinary. You can't be anything other than incredibly impressed by what Verstappen is doing. How many points has Perez scored in that time?"
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