Lewis Hamilton taunted after F1 star’s comments on Max Verstappen that he has ‘short memory’ and ‘getting old’

LEWIS HAMILTON was mocked by Fernando Alonso, who accused the Brit of having a “short memory”.

Hamilton claimed Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was “the fastest car I’ve ever seen” as he was passed by the Dutchman at the Saudi Arabian GP.

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The seven-time world champion said Red Bull’s advantage was greater than anything Mercedes had during their eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021.

But Alonso dismissed his claim in an interview with French publication L’Equipe ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
Alonso said: “I don’t agree at all. Last week [in Saudi Arabia] I finished 20 seconds behind Checo [Perez] and max.

“He and [Nico] Rosberg was a minute ahead in 2014 and 2015… He has a short memory, he’s getting old!”

Alonso, who famously fell out with Hamilton when they were team-mates at McLaren in 2007, also said he was now aware of the 38-year-old’s “weaknesses” as he no longer had a superior car.

He added: “With a normal car you can see that it has weaknesses.
“He used to ride alone or sometimes with his teammate. But look, he’s the record holder for poles and George Russell has it right now [beaten] him a 2-0 in qualifying this season. It just goes to show how much the car is still a key factor.”

Meanwhile, Merc boss Toto Wolff says Hamilton and Russell cannot expect to receive any major upgrades ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May.

Wolff has already committed to redesigning this year’s car after a slow start to the season.

The Austrian has promised “visible changes” to the car but they won’t be ready for the Baku and Miami GPs.

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He said: “We are making good steps, good developments, but you have to execute them, confirm them, produce them.

“So I think we’re not looking for an introduction ahead of Imola. We also want to do it right.”

Hamilton was not happy with his car’s performance in practice in Melbourne for this weekend’s race.

He said: “This morning was good, this afternoon wasn’t so good. The car is similar [to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia]. It felt a little better this morning.

“We made some changes that didn’t work, so we’re going to rework them tonight. Then it rained so it wasn’t the best session.”

When asked about his expectations for this weekend, he added: “We won’t be able to match the Red Bulls.