We are well and truly underway with the Sprint race and couldn’t have asked for a better start. To the surprise of many, George Russell overtook Max Verstappen in the first lap, however, it wasn’t the cleanest of moves. The duo made contact in Turn 1 which saw Max take some damage to his floor.

Irked by the aggressive move, Verstappen expressed his displeasure on the team radio. However, his moment came just a few minutes later and the radio message was passionate as ever. Fans, however, did not take well to it, reminding him of his own past that isn’t as clean as he thinks it is.

Soon after Russell’s overtake, Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the barriers, losing his rear-right tire. The tire rolled down the track and settled right in the middle of the racing line. The incident caused the Safety Car situation, which lasted for the next 3 laps. On the restart, Verstappen had his sweet revenge in the same corner, this time overtaking Russell without causing any drama.

Max Verstappen rubs it into George Russell after a vengeful overtake

Max’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, was pleased with his driver’s clean overtake and let his feelings known on the team radio. Lambiase sarcastically said, “Lovely job, Max. Without contact as well, nice job.”

To that, the Dutchman simply replied, “Yeah, I know how to do that.”

Fans, however, took this opportunity to remind him of the incidents he’s been involved in over the years where his own aggressive maneuvers caused some crashes. That is an image Max has lived with pretty much his entire F1 career. Even other drivers have often talked about how he is sometimes too aggressive. Lewis Hamilton once went as far as saying that it was a “do or die” kind of situation when racing with Max.

Take a look at some reactions from Twitter to his comments.

Read More: “Such a Crybaby”: Max Verstappen Incurs the Wrath of Fans Over Another “Terrible” Rant

Given how Verstappen has often faced questions over the legitimacy of both his championships, the criticism was bound to return.

Watch This Story: What was the Sky Sports F1 Boycott by Max Verstappen & Red Bull?

What do you think about Max and Lambiase’s snarky comments? Are they justified given Max’s own questionable past?