Red Bull’s one rule for Max Verstappen’s team-mate as Toto Wolff faces backlash

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff have been widely criticised by fans and pundits alike for downplaying Max Verstappen’s achievements in the wake of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. The Dutchman crossed the line in first place to secure his 10th straight win, setting a new all-time record in the process.

Hamilton was not overly impressed, though, as he insisted that Verstappen was no better than Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso or any other dominant driver before him. Toto Wolff, meanwhile, branded his new record ‘completely irrelevant’ and suggested that it would only be noticed by people reading obscure F1 statistics on Wikipedia.

The pair have since been slammed by Martin Brundle, who was left ‘surprised and disappointed’ by their remarks on Verstappen. He told Sky Sports: “If a tennis player or football or rugby team for example was so utterly complete and dominant, they would rightly be globally lauded at the highest level, as should this pairing be.

“Sport can and should be tribal, but you must surely also appreciate a level of excellence in others. So I was a little surprised and disappointed that Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff played down this achievement over the weekend because they rightly received their due reverence and appreciation during their years of total domination from 2014 to 2020.”

Piastri accepts Hamilton apology

Oscar Piastri has said that he is not angry with Lewis Hamilton for ruining his race at the Italian Grand Prix, with the Brit having immediately apologised after the chequred flag.

“Yeah, I mean, he apologised immediately and he got a penalty for it,” said the McLaren ace.

“I’m happy he owned up to it, at least. Of course, ideally, it wouldn’t have happened, but it’s quite easy to do in that corner where you know, we’ve seen it plenty of times.”

Red Bull’s golden rule

Jacques Villeneuve believes that Red Bull will not care which driver partners Max Verstappen next season, as long as they stick to the basic rule of not causing him any trouble.

“I don’t think they care, they have Max,” said Villeneuve as per Motorsport.com.

“At the moment Max can win, they are comfortably ahead. They are getting the image they want.

“Why should they bother and sign a young guy who wants to show that he is the new world champion and cause trouble?”

Sainz joins forces with Djokovic

Carlos Sainz has been announced as one of the celebrity participants who will take part in the Ryder Cup all-star match later this month.

The Spaniard, who is a keen golfer, will be joined at the event by the likes of Novak Djokovic, Gareth Bale and Andriy Shevchenko.

In a break in tradition, there will not be a competition between teams made up from Europe and the USA.

There will instead be a blend of nationalities playing for teams captained by iconic Ryder Cup figures Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin.

Russell explains what Mercedes need

George Russell has revealed that he is hoping for Mercedes to give him more confidence in the car when it comes to flooring it out of corners.

“Both Lewis and I are searching for a bit more confidence and rear end in the car so that we can hit the ground running during a race weekend,” he told RaceFans.

“That’s something that Red Bull have done a really great job of allowing their drivers, lap one of the weekend, to go out and push to the limit in little fear of crashing the car or spinning out.”