Lewis Hamilton has been accused of masking his real feelings about the dangers of Formula One in a bid to appear "cool", Max Verstappen has claimed.
Hamilton has adopted a rather liberal stance on safety, blasting the halo - the driver-head protection device set to be introduced in 2017 - as "the worst-looking modification in Formula One history", as well as branding his fellow drivers "moaners".
Speaking at the last race in Azerbaijan where a number of his peers expressed their concerns with the Baku track, Hamilton said: "These drivers moan so much, so much about so many things."
The quick entry to the pit lane in Baku - a street circuit which was billed as the fastest on the calender - attracted criticism from Rosberg and Hamilton's former McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association.
Verstappen, at 18 Formula One's youngest ever driver, also aired his grievances in the drivers' briefing ahead of the Azerbaijan race.
"In the media he's saying like he doesn't care, but when he talks to his team it is different," Verstappen, who won on his Red Bull debut in Spain earlier this year, said.
"I had an incident in the drivers' briefing in Baku saying the pit entry was quite tricky, and he's like 'oh, you shouldn't bother about it'.
"But then Nico jumped in and said 'wait Lewis, you just said you were getting scared when you were always entering the pit lane. So what is this approach?'
"Maybe he wants to be cool. We are looking to improve safety, and we don't want to die on the track."
Meanwhile, Hamilton believes Rosberg, whom he trails by 24 points in the championship, is in the box seat to secure pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after watching his Mercedes team-mate secure a practice double on Friday.
Hamilton, yet to open his winning account at the Red Bull Ring, said: ''I was way off the pace. Nico was much, much quicker.
''I was on a Sunday drive. I was not driving spectacularly, like I often do, so I have got to try and find that time.''
Source: PA
