Max Verstappen delivers barbed response to Lewis Hamilton's praise for Silverstone race

The 2022 Formula One season has lacked one defining feature of last year’s action - an on-track duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Last week’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone offered arguably the most thrilling racing of F1’s new era, and Hamilton proclaimed himself a big fan.

The closely-fought and hard-fought battle for second place between Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc was perhaps the best demonstration of what the new regulations and a decent circuit can offer. In the end Perez emerged on top, with Hamilton finishing third and Leclerc fourth.

Since Sunday, Hamilton has been particularly vocal in singing the praises of the racing and the skill and fairness in combat of Red Bull’s Perez and Ferrari’s Leclerc.

Yet Verstappen, his title rival from last year, responded to Hamilton’s comments with a back-handed remark about the Briton’s racecraft.

“I think it's quite nice that, at 37 years of age, you can still learn how to hit an apex,” Verstappen told Dutch media on Thursday, Autosport reports.

“He is learning, so that is positive. It is also good for younger drivers to know that you are still learning when you are 37 years old,” Verstappen added.

Hamilton and Verstappen had numerous on-track clashes throughout the 2021 title campaign, with the Dutchman emerging the eventual victor at Abu Dhabi.  The most controversial and violent of those was at the British Grand Prix last year, where an incident at the high-speed right-hander at Copse ended with Verstappen in the barriers, later taken to hospital.

Gallery: Ferrari F40 Mega Gallery (motor1.com)

Hamilton would come back to win the race despite the incident and a subsequent penalty. It is this crash that Verstappen appears to be