Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen war of words gives F1 "entertainment factor" - Toto Wolff

Verstappen, Hamilton — Photo: © LAT Images

Monaco Grand Prix

Hamilton Verstappen war of words gives F1 "entertainment factor" - Wolff

The title rivals traded verbals across the Monaco GP weekend

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Wednesday 26 May 2021 05:00

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes the verbal sparring between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is great for the "entertainment factor" of F1.

Ahead of the Monaco GP weekend, Hamilton suggested title rival Verstappen "has a lot to prove", with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner rebuking the claims by saying the comment proved his driver was under the seven-time champion's skin.

Verstappen went on to dominate the weekend in the Principality whilst Mercedes struggled for form, with the Dutchman overhauling Hamilton's lead in the drivers' standings and claiming his win proved that "actions speak louder than words".

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On the war of words, Wolff said: "It is great. We have a fight between outstanding drivers, the championship has swung both directions and things are being said which are good for entertainment.

"I would attribute that sentence to the entertainment factor and great to talk about it and write about it. This is action on the track and also off the track."

Hamilton overcut only way to beat Gasly

Hamilton's misery was compounded by a failed attempt to undercut the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly in the pit stop phase, allowing the long-running Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez to leapfrog the Briton on his way to a lowly seventh.

The result means Hamilton is now four points adrift of Verstappen ahead of the next race in Azerbaijan in early June.

Assessing the options on the table at the time for Mercedes, Wolff said: "The undercut was the only chance we had. We saw the tyre that came off and there was nothing left, similar to Valtteri's car.

"There was some communication with the strategists, are we undercutting? We felt the undercut had much bigger potential to jump Gasly and it wasn't enough."