Christian Horner takes sly dig at Lewis Hamilton; 'Anyone can drive through the straights'

The F1 2021 title rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen seemed to be at its peak at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday as the battle was not only extremely close on the track but also got feisty with the teams involved.

With Hamilton and Verstappen having been involved in several controversial incidents during the race, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner did not hold back as he took a sly dig at the Mercedes F1 driver after he won the race.

Saudi Arabian GP: Christian Horner takes sly dig at Lewis Hamilton

While addressing Lewis Hamilton's staggering speed, Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1, "The first sector is down to the driver, and the next two sectors are engine-dominated. So anyone can drive easy down the straight bits, and I think what Max was able to do through the demands of Sector 1 was truly impressive. And it was our only chance of staying ahead if you look at the difference in performance around the lap. It was remarkable what he was able to do. Mercedes had an amazing car today, and I think the reality was they were just that bit quicker."

Controversial incidents between Hamilton and Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were involved in a horrific high-speed crash when the Dutchman 'attempted' to give the position back to the Brit, having overtaken him illegally. The Red Bull Racing driver slowed down substantially on the straight to allow title rival Hamilton into the lead after instruction came from race control to do so. With the Mercedes F1 driver unaware of the situation, he drove into the back of Verstappen's car and accused him of brake-testing him.

Speaking of the incident, Horner told Sky Sports F1, "But Max was trying to give the place up. We informed race control we would give the place up, and he lifted off – you can hear, I think, Lewis has actually lifted off. I don’t know whether he's messing around for the DRS line, but it was clear we were giving the place up."

Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty for this incident after the decision was reviewed by the stewards. The Dutchman also received another five-second time penalty for another incident when he left the track and gained an advantage at Turn 1, thereby helping him keep the lead from Hamilton. However, the Dutchman was still able to maintain his second-place as Valtteri Bottas finished more than 15 seconds behind him.

Image: Twitter@F1, AP