Red Bull appear to have aimed a subtle dig at Lewis Hamilton after the Ferrari star called out rival Max Verstappen following the Australian Grand Prix.
After a long three-month break, the 2025 Formula One season finally got underway in Melbourne, Australia, last week.
McLaren star Lando Norris held off reigning champion Verstappen and finished the race in first, while fans hoping to see Hamilton once again fighting at the front were disappointed as the Brit finished 10th in his debut for new team Ferrari.
Following the race, Hamilton hit out at Verstappen as he called out fans who criticised the seven-time world champion for his communication with race engineer Riccardo Adami.
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Throughout his 12 season spell with former team Mercedes, Hamilton enjoyed a close and highly successful relationship with race engineer Peter Bonnington
But, during the race in Australian, viewers were quick to notice that Hamilton that this doesn't yet appear to be the case with Adami, as the two were heard clashing, leading to the accomplished driver asking to be left alone.
However, while speaking to to reporters in China, the 40-year-old Ferrari star felt that he had to set the record straight, aiming a dig at Verstappen and Red Bull in the process.
“Everyone over-egged [the situation]. It was literally just a back-and-forth. I was very polite in how I suggested it," Hamilton claimed
“I said ‘leave it to me, please’. I wasn’t saying ‘F-you’, I wasn’t swearing.
“It was just at that point I was really struggling with the car and I needed full focus on a couple of things. We’re getting to know each other.
“He [Adami] had two champions or more in the past and there are no issues between us. Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers – it’s far worse.
“The conversations that Max has had with his engineer over the years and the abuse that the poor guy has taken, and you never write about it, but you write about the smallest little discussion I have with mine.”
After Hamilton's comments taking shots at Verstappen and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase went viral online, Red Bull were quick to respond by posting a series of photos of the pair celebrating Verstappen's triumphs together.
Reacting to the post, one fan wrote: "Red bull admin you know exactly what you’re doing after the Lewis Hamilton comment!"
Like Hamilton and Bonnington, Verstappen has enjoyed a fantastic relationship with Lambiase, despite the pair exchanging blows over the team radio on several occasions throughout their time working together.
The Red Bull pair have incredibly won four consecutive Drivers' Championship titles together, in large part due to their close relationship that led team principal Christian Horner to describe them as a 'old married couple.'
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Ferrari, Formula 1, Red Bull Racing
Ben McCrum