Brundle ‘surprised and disappointed’ by Wolff and Hamilton

Over the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton questioned the pedigree of Verstappen’s F1 teammates and also claimed the Dutchman’s success has been “blown up much more” than his own. 

When asked for his thoughts on Verstappen’s record 10th straight win in Sunday’s race at Monza, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff dismissed the historic victory as “irrelevant”, adding the achievement was simply “for Wikipedia”. 

But those remarks did not sit well with ex-driver-turned pundit Brundle. 

“For Max Verstappen to win 10 consecutive races, along with Red Bull taking all 15 races so far this season, it’s truly something to behold,” he wrote in his latest Sky F1 column. 

“What an achievement to faultlessly keep up that level of performance and reliability on many different track layouts and in varying weather conditions, up against mighty opposition. Congratulations to each and every one of them.

“If a tennis player or football or rugby team for example was so utterly complete and dominant, they would rightly be globally lauded at the highest level. As should this pairing be.

“Sport can and should be tribal, but you must surely also appreciate a level of excellence in others.

“So I was a little surprised and disappointed that Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff played down this achievement over the weekend because they rightly received their due reverence and appreciation during their years of total domination from 2014 to 2020.”

Brundle did however acknowledge that Red Bull’s own comments in the press, and actions - such as breaching the F1 cost cap last year - have not helped their cause.

“At the same time Max and Red Bull will no doubt reflect on a few past actions and words which have diluted their current appreciation levels in some quarters. 

“But it's all to be expected when you put so many intensely competitive people into the same space.”