A cooldown room is a place for some friendly chatter between drivers after the race is over. Although, it is usually followed by palpable tension. This Austrian GP cooldown room saw this hostility between the rivals of our F1 era, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Hamilton entered the room after the race where the Dutchman was already present. The Mercedes driver went through the procedure of weighing himself. He then put his helmet down and walked out only throwing Verstappen a quick glance in his direction. Trying to find a reason to scurry away, Verstappen was left to ponder alone.
The duo were locked into an intense battle last season. Their rivalry peaked in the final round of the 2021 season. The animosity between the two was clearly still there as the off-track fire still prevails from either camp.
max waiting for charles and lewis in the cooldown room #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/DXjhZCi65J
— lav ×͜× WAS BAPTIZED BY HARRY (@fearlessf28) July 10, 2022
Twitter reacts to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s cooldown room interaction
The body language:
Max: “OMG OMG OMG it’s him, act normal, act cool, focus on the tv, I’m a WDC winner*, breathe, breathe”.
Lewis: “Ugh, this toxic, cheating, phony champ, Buh-bye 💀”#F1 | #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/fq0a1K1LPv
— Henry Mill (@_HenryMill) July 11, 2022
A time for drivers to engage in some easygoing conversations, reflecting on the race gone by; the cooldown room rarely sees such steely encounters. However, at this Austrian GP, there was no communication, only silence. The interaction between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen or, lack thereof, had fans reacting to it on the internet.
Who knows, why Hamilton was so upset with Verstappen? However, whatever the case, it looks like their rivalry is heating up once again.
