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After throwing away the lead of the race on the opening lap of the French Grand Prix, Red Bull were on the radio to tell Max Verstappen to calm himself down following an angry radio message. Verstappen retook the race lead after undercutting Lewis Hamilton during the first round of pit stops.
Verstappen was in pole position in Paul Ricard, the fifth of his F1 career, and initially had a fantastic start over his main title rival Hamilton, before sliding off the circuit at Turn Two, with the seven-time world champion sweeping past into the lead of the race.
But all changed during the pit stop window when Verstappen pitted ahead of Hamilton whilst the Dutchman was running in second place.
Mercedes reacted accordingly, with a 2.2s pitstop for the reigning world champion, looking to come out back in front of the championship leader.
However, the move didn’t work as Hamilton emerged from the pit lane behind Verstappen, handing the Dutchman the net lead of the race
Moments later, Verstappen was heard frustratedly shouting to his engineer on the radio “Talk to me, hello?”
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“Point nine and mode seven okay, Max, calm yourself down,” came the response from his engineer.
“I just want to be able to do my job mate,” came the reply from the agitated 23-year-old, looking to take his first win in France.
Hamilton came into the weekend looking to bounce back from two tough weekends in Monaco and Baku, admitting he felt ‘no pressure’ from Verstappen heading into the French Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion lined up second on the grid for the restart, but plummeted to 15th after challenging Sergio Perez for the lead, accidentally activating a button on the car’s steering wheel – which changes brake bias settings and is used to heat the front tyres.
As a result, Hamilton locked up and went straight at turn one down the escape route, finishing P15 in Baku, and despite a DNF from Verstappen, due to Hamilton’s mistake, he walked away still leading the championship.
“Max wasn’t in the race at the time so I definitely wasn’t under pressure from him,” said Hamilton.
“A mistake is when you often drive off the track after missing your braking point or a hit the wall, but it as an unforced error.
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