Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen SNUBBED by fellow F1 drivers in hilariously awkward moment

Hamilton, Verstappen, Hungary, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Hamilton and Verstappen SNUBBED by fellow F1 drivers in hilariously awkward moment

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen may not be best pleased with some of their fellow F1 drivers

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Friday 4 August 2023 12:57

The current crop of Formula 1 drivers were put to the test after they were asked to give the surnames of previous race winners from A-Z, causing some hilarity when both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were forgotten by a handful of their fellow drivers.

In the latest episode of F1's series 'Grill the Grid' the drivers were put on the spot once again in another round of general trivia from the sport's history.

This time, they were given a letter and asked to name any previous race winner whose surname also began with the corresponding letter.

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You might be thinking that there are some obvious answers, such as Hamilton for 'H' and Verstappen for 'V', especially considering the two drivers still on the grid have a whopping 148 victories between them.

Yet not everyone managed to pass the test with flying colours, as some let the pressure get the better of them.

Hamilton and Verstappen left out

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have been long-term rivals in F1

When the letter 'H' came around, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Logan Sargeant, Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda kept calm under pressure and named Mercedes' No. 44.

Sergio Perez, Oscar Piastri, Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly and – perhaps unsurprisingly – Fernando Alonso did not answer Hamilton, but held their nerve to name Damon Hill instead.

Even long-term team-mate Valtteri Bottas ignored Hamilton, as despite racing alongside him for five years, he did not name the Brit. Instead, he understandably opted for fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen.

After initially panicking, Lando Norris did offer up his compatriot's name, yet his brain-freeze did not pale in comparison to that of Charles Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver said: "It seems so obvious for you but I don’t know why I am stressing out in front of those cameras! No answer is coming to my mind."

Before going on to eventually blurt out: “Hamilton! Oh my God!”

Despite being rivals on the track, Verstappen would have no issues in naming Hamilton, cheekily admitting afterwards: “My God, if I wouldn’t have had that one!”

And when the Dutchman's turn rolled around for the letter 'V', he was quick to name himself. Bottas, Sainz, Sargeant, Leclerc and Alonso would also name Verstappen, but not everyone followed suit.

Tsunoda responded with Sebastian Vettel, while Hulkenberg, Piastri and Magnussen all plumped for Jacques Villeneuve instead.

Unfortunately we never got to see what Hamilton or George Russell would have gone for, as the Mercedes team-mates were absent from the video.