Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has remarked that Lewis Hamilton "tends to be a bit theatrical" following the Mercedes driver's sequence of tyre-related radio messages in the Dutch Grand Prix. Hamilton made several comments over the radio about the state of his tyres, and Mercedes' strategy, during Sunday's 72-lap race at Zandvoort, as he tried to overhaul Red Bull rival Max Verstappen. Hamilton and Verstappen both ran two-stop strategies but used different tyre compounds for their final stints, Hamilton taking on a set of Mediums with 32 laps to go, and Verstappen taking on a set of Hards one lap later. Traffic on the laps leading up to his second pit-stop, and on his out lap, dented Hamilton's undercut attempt, and he was ultimately unable to prevent Verstappen from taking the victory. "Hamilton tends to be a bit theatrical," Marko told Sky Sport Germany. "We were also watching Mercedes' tyres closely and saw that it became critical with [Valtteri] Bottas. On the whole, it was fine." Marko added: "We thought that after the second stop we could use the Hard tyres without any problems. Hamilton attacked strongly, which Max covered. Then it was just about driving the race home." Marko nonetheless praised Hamilton and Mercedes for a "tough and fair" race on Verstappen's home turf. "It was a hard fight from the first to the last lap," he commented. "I have to compliment not only the Dutch, but also Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. The way they behaved – that's how a race should be." Verstappen now leads Hamilton by three points in the F1 standings.
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