Max Verstappen scathing of F1 rules after Lewis Hamilton overtake

Hamilton passed Verstappen on lap one to take second place at the Australian GP, a race the Dutchman eventually won

Max Verstappen believes Formula 1’s rules are not being enforced correctly after no action was taken against Lewis Hamilton for his first-lap overtake in the Australian Grand Prix.

Having lost first place to George Russell at the start of Sunday’s chaotic and entertaining race in Melbourne, Verstappen then dropped to third after Hamilton bolted down the inside of the Red Bull at turn 3 at Albert Park.

Verstappen was quick to express his unhappiness with the move over team radio, insisting he was “ahead at the apex” and the Brit “pushed him off track.”

The Dutchman eventually propelled past Hamilton anyhow, and took the chequered flag in first place despite a hectic finale, but still voiced his displeasure at the incident after the race.

“From my side, I just tried to avoid contact,” he said. “It’s quite clear in the rules what you’re allowed to do on the outside, but clearly it’s not followed.

“It’s okay, we had good pace and we passed them anyway, but it’s something for the next race to take into account.

“It’s great to win here – my first win, it’s been a while for the team as well so very, very happy.”

Max Verstappen believes Formula 1’s rules are not being enforced correctly after Lewis Hamilton’s overtake (Getty Images)

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who finished second for Mercedes’ first podium of the season, unsurprisingly disagreed with Verstappen’s assessment of the incident.

“I thought [the move] was pretty decent,” Hamilton told the media in Melbourne afterwards.

“He braked early and I braked late and I was fully up the inside and I think we both left space for each other.

“I didn’t run him off the road and he didn’t turn in on me. So we didn’t touch and that’s racing.”

Verstappen was also unimpressed with the stewards in how they used the red flag at the end of the race.

On Saturday, the double world champion even threatened to quit the sport if a prospective new race weekend structure was implemented for the next race in Azerbaijan and down the line, in which an extra sprint-specific qualifying session would take place.

After team-mate Sergio Perez finished fifth, Verstappen now has a 15-point lead in the World Championship from his Red Bull rival, while Hamilton is 31 points behind Verstappen in fourth place.

The next race, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, takes place from 28-30 April in Baku.