31 July 2023 , 08:02
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Toto Wolff felt Max Verstappen was "cheeky" for his Belgian Grand Prix radio arguments with Red Bull over strategy – but admitted the Dutchman had every right as he romped to another dominant Formula 1 victory.
He started sixth on the grid courtesy of a five-place penalty. But Verstappen made light work of getting back to the front and was leading Sunday's race by lap 17.
Once it was clear he was going to take another victory, he started arguing with his race engineer over the radio. Gianpiero Lambiase was scolding his driver for not being "sensible" with his tyre management.
And Verstappen was winding him up in return, while clearly having the race under control. At one point, he even jokingly asked if he could push harder to make a gap big enough for "a little bit of pit stop training", a request which was denied.
Teammate Sergio Perez could not live with the pace Verstappen produced while still managing to look after his tyres. And the Mercedes cars were even further behind – Lewis Hamilton more than 49 seconds adrift in fourth and George Russell more than a minute down the road.
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As irritating as Wolff found the fact Verstappen was able to joke with his race engineer while still leading, he couldn't help but admit that the Dutchman has earned the right to do so.
"He has all reason, all reasons to be a bit cheeky," the Austrian told reporters after the race. "He's just driving everybody else around in circles and it's on merit."
As annoyed as Toto Wolff was, he admitted Verstappen had earned the right to be 'cheeky' (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)That said, Wolff made it clear he did not enjoy what he was hearing over the airwaves. He added: "There's nothing else to say and you've got to watch that... On the one hand, as much as it is annoying... that's just about the lot."
Verstappen made it clear that his exchange with Lambiase was mostly a joke but suggested that he was at least partly serious about wanting to push on and finish even further ahead of Perez. "Probably fifty-fifty on the messages," said the championship leader.
"I know that the team doesn't like to do another stop, but I like to mention it so they might get a bit nervous. I like the response, 'No, no, we are not doing that today'. It's fine. We know each other very well and we have a very good relationship."