"Sulking" Max Verstappen was labelled a "poor loser" after the Red Bull star called for the Formula 1 Sprint format to be scrapped.
Verstappen was in a foul mood as he faced the press after the Sprint on Saturday. Minutes earlier, he had confronted George Russell in parc ferme to let his anger out after a collision with the Brit on the first lap of the short-form race.
They made contact on the second corner as Russell had the inside line and pushed to move past the championship leader. It prompted a furious outburst over the radio from Verstappen who demanded his team "f***ing report" the incident.
Verstappen eventually took the place back from Russell and finished ahead of the Brit. But getting the better of him on the track clearly did not placate the defending champion, who jumped out of his car after the session to confront his rival face to face.
Even calling the Brit a "d***head" did not fully calm Verstappen down. Clearly still seething as he spoke to reporters in the post-session press conference, the Dutchman called for F1 chiefs to get rid of the Sprint format he hates.
"Yeah, just scrap the whole thing," he said. "I think it's just important to go back to what we have and make sure that every team can fight for a win. That's what we have to try to aim for instead of trying to provide all this artificial excitement, I would say.
"I got bored in today's qualifying, to be honest. I like to have one qualifying where you put everything into it, which was yesterday and which I enjoyed. But then you have to do it again today. My god, another qualifying? I just don't really enjoy that."
His words got under the skin of Sky Sports pundit Damon Hill who snapped back furiously at the Red Bull racer. "Yeah, we should just give Max Verstappen the championship and just not bother with anything else," was his retort, dripping with sarcasm.
Hill added: "I'm sorry, that is just sulking. That's just a poor loser. Sorry. It's there for everyone, the same competition. He should be thinking about tomorrow and the championship, and putting this behind him."
