"You Idiot," Verstappen Said To Hamilton While Holding Up His Middle Finger When The Two Raced In The United States GP Practice Session

Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the garage during a free practice session for the US Grand Prix (Mike Blake/Reuters via Antara)

JAKARTA - The race for the Formula 1 world title heated up again when the leader of the standings Max Verstappen was irritated by Lewis Hamilton's maneuvers in the free practice session of the United States Grand Prix.

He was so annoyed, the Red Bull driver called his rival from the Mercedes team "you idiot" when the two drove almost side by side.

Verstappen even raised his middle finger when Hamilton accelerated from the corner at the Circuit of the Americas, Texas, Austin which was hot that afternoon.

"Just ignore it, don't worry about that," race engineer Verstappen said on the radio.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner joked that Verstappen only showed who was number one in the standings.

The teammate of the Dutch rider, Sergio Perez from Mexico appeared fastest in the second practice session, with the best lap record of one minute 34.946 seconds.

"Good day, for sure it will be very tight," Perez said.

"There is still a lot to be done with this car," he added.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was frustrated with the traffic on the track and failed to make a flying lap. He ended up in P8 in the second training session after finishing P3 in morning practice.

"The track is quite bumpy and finding the right compromise with the car hasn't been easy so far," said Verstappen.

McLaren's Lando Norris finished second fastest, while Hamilton, whose best lap was scrapped for exceeding the track limit, finished third.

"Overall, it's been a good day but there's still a lot of work to be done," said Hamilton, who is chasing a career record of 101 wins and sixth in nine races at Austin.

Mercedes dominated the first practice session as Valtteri Bottas was 0.045 seconds ahead of Hamilton as Verstappen was nearly a second behind the Finn.

Bottas, who finished P4 in the afternoon, will face a five-place starting penalty for using his sixth engine, three more than his allotment allowed in a season.

Mercedes is also still the favorite to win in Austin after taking pole position in the last six races there. Last year's Grand Prix was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P4 and P5 in practice, becoming a boost in the race for the constructors' third place against McLaren.