Formula 1 Dutch GP
Hamilton: I was "wrong" to call Red Bull "just a drinks company"
Lewis Hamilton says he was wrong to once call the Red Bull team “just a drinks company”, while praising its efforts to dominate the start of Formula 1’s new era.
Alex Kalinauckas
Edited: Sep 2, 2022, 12:43 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Back in 2011, Hamilton famously dismissed the team that now runs Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the context that he did not believe it could maintain form at the head of the pack against proven manufacturer squads such as his then McLaren team and Ferrari.
Back then, Red Bull was at the start of its run to four consecutive double world titles with Sebastian Vettel – although once the V6 hybrid era began in 2014 it fell behind the Mercedes squad Hamilton had subsequently joined.
But while McLaren and Ferrari have failed to recover the form that created their previous eras of F1 domination since Hamilton’s remarks 11 years ago, Red Bull has been gone from being Mercedes' only regular victory challenger to seeing Verstappen take the 2021 title and establish a commanding championship position in the first season of F1’s new ground effect rules package.
When asked by Motorsport.com what he made of Verstappen’s performances in 2022 to establish his current 93-point lead in the standings, Hamilton opted to praise the Red Bull squad and refer back to his previous statement.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“It’s more [about being] impressed with Adrian Newey and his team,” he said.
“I think the team [Red Bull], they’ve generally had really great cars for some time. They used to have a really high ride height and had more drag than before.
“I think they’ve realised [and] experienced this year that their engine actually isn’t slower than others and it was more that they had a lot more drag in the previous years. And they’ve done a fantastic job.
“Anything I would’ve said in the past about the team, I didn’t mean it in a negative way. I think years ago I said something about them being a drinks company – or something like that.
“And it was really just highlighting that you would bet on a car manufacturer more so, but they’ve proved me wrong and everyone. And they’ve done a great job.
“But, more so, just knowing that Adrian did his thesis on ground effect cars when he was at university. So, it’s no surprise what he’s done and created this year!
“It’s impressive. But, I believe in the young guns in our team that we’ll catch up.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article 2022 F1 Dutch Grand Prix session timings and preview
Next article Di Grassi accuses Vettel of greenwashing after FE criticisms
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alex Kalinauckas
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Formula 1
Formula 1 May 3, 2025
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 2, 2025
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 1, 2025
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Latest news
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
57 min
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
2 h
Iker Lecuona felt significant differences between Ducati's GP25 and GP26
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
3 h
The Kimi Antonelli you don't know: Inside the Mercedes garage with F1's new world champion
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe