Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2021

“Very aggressive” Verstappen ‘didn’t leave any space’ – Hamilton

2021 British Grand Prix

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British Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton says Max Verstappen did not leave him space in the opening lap collision that saw the championship leader crash out of the race.

The pair were battling for the lead on the first lap when Hamilton’s left front wheel hit Verstappen’s right rear wheel as they rounded the high-speed Copse corner. Verstappen was sent spinning into the barrier, suffering a heavy crash and was later taken to a local hospital for medical evaluation.

Both Mercedes and Red Bull team personnel lobbied with race director Michael Masi that their drivers had not been responsible. Hamilton was later handed a ten-second time penalty and two penalty points on his super license after stewards determined he had been responsible for the collision.

Despite being deemed at fault, Hamilton says he feels his championship rival failed to give him space.

“I always try to be measured in how I approach, particularly with battling with Max,” says Hamilton.

“You know, he’s very aggressive. And then today, I mean, I was fully alongside him and he didn’t leave me any space. But regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I take it on the chin. And I just kept working.”

Hamilton served his penalty during his pit stop, falling to fourth place before passing Lando Norris for third and Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas allowed him through into second. He then finally chased down leader Charles Leclerc before passing him for the win at Copse with three laps remaining.

“I was like, ‘I’m not going to let anything get in the way of the crowd’s enjoyment of the weekend and the national anthem,'” said Hamilton.

“I’ve been giving my all this past week, been in the factory and just giving absolutely everything. Just trying to uncover performance for this car with the guys. And I’m so proud of everyone for just continuing to work, even though we’ve had a bit of a deficit.”

Hamilton paid tribute to the Silverstone crowd after the first full-capacity grand prix to have been held since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s massively overwhelming and, oh god, it was such a physically difficult race. What great weather. We’ve got the best, best crowd – our home crowd is the best. I want to say, there’s nowhere we go, where we see people like this. They ain’t got what we got. I’m so grateful to the fans.”

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Will Wood
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139 comments on ““Very aggressive” Verstappen ‘didn’t leave any space’ – Hamilton”

  1. The new-and-improved magnanimous Lewis Hamilton, everyone.

    1. Max blocks everybody aggressively. Today he paid the price for pushing Lewis to the wall, expecting Lewis to back out of it, then Max turns in hoping to be clear and he wasn’t. Racing incident. Stop moaning.

      1. plus weaving like crazy from Saturday

    2. From Hamilton remarks, I feel he expected Max to give him more room in the corner after squeezing him almost to the wall and especially after Hamilton being non-aggressive (Imola, Spain) in the season so far. I think he feels Verstappen has gone over the line they both established between them this season & wanted to re-establish that. If Verstappen will agree with that point is very uncertain and he may be on the other more aggressive to him for the rest of season.

      1. yvesBordeaux
        18th July 2021, 18:23

        100% agreed after see Spain and Imola. Lewis back off not Max today

      2. For Hamilton to have successful cut that corner he needed a wider approach. In other words once Hamiton was directed to take the inside line, Max needed to drive wider so Hamilton could come wider and turn in. Max left Hamilton with few options. He set up that situation and invited to the collision.

        Someone with a 33 points cusion would drive with more causion. That’s the difference between the true champions, they know when to play the percentages.

        1. ‘Someone with a 33 points cusion would drive with more causion. That’s the difference between the true champions, they know when to play the percentages.’

          im surprised he hadn’t learnt this from the max vs ocon brazil( cant remember the year) collision. hamilton that day told him “you had more to loose than him” and hamilton was right max lost a chunk of his lead

          1. That was in 2018 @lucifer. And I agree with you: Verstappen had more to lose.
            He’s very aggressive, of course one day someone will not yield and it will end in a crash. It happened in 2018 and 2021, it may happen again in the future for Max.

    3. Max has tweeted from hospital to say that for Lewis to celebrate the win is “disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour.”

      I love Max to bits – hell, I’m wearing a bright orange 33 t-shirt as I type this – and I really hope he comes out of this unscathed and ready to pick-up where he left off but his comments are pretty pathetic.

      As if he and the rest of the RB team wouldn’t have celebrated if the roles had been reversed.

      1. @sonnycrockett Perhaps, but I’m not so sure. If the roles had been reversed it would have meant 25 more points to Max’s lead over LH, rather than the now 7 point gap there is. They might have been more reserved with such a lead, than an LH/Mercedes who obviously now feel back in the fight even after LH is there having committed an infraction that was penalty worthy.

        There are a million ways we could apply the ‘if the roles had been reversed’ philosophy, and I would just say as well then, if it was LH commenting from the hospital at Max’s exuberance over such a win, would he have been more diplomatic?

        1. We’ll just never know @robbie.
          But I can’t see what elements give you this feeling. Max is a very aggressive racer and loves nothing more than winning (bouncing Leclerc out of the track in Austria 2019 if needed be, but I digress…), so just as @sonnycrockett I think he would have celebrated on the podium had the roles been reversed.

    4. Missed the apex by 2 metres. He should have not said the “take it on the chin” part, today was perfect for him.

  2. Puts the guy in hospital and these are his comments.

    1. These comments are so extra. He went for precautionary checks and was uninjured. This is racing not a tea party.

    2. Max put himself in hospital

      1. Lewis was more than a meter off the apex and was clearly at fault here. Max left enough space, was in front and turned in on the racing line. Lewis made the same mistake as with Albon but in Copse you should be more careful. Max could have died with that impact :(

        1. How do you make the apex at the angle max forced Hamilton to take into the corner?

          1. Dirky that sounds like supreme racing to me and commanding the lead. If indeed Max is the one that caused LH to take what I think you are implying is a different angle, which meant missing the apex, then that shows superior driving on Max’s part, and sounds like something LH or any WDC level driver would try to do to an opponent, which is then exactly when said opponent needs to back off. LH has countless times, particularly against NR, forced his opponent into an unideal spot and having to back off. LH didn’t in this case and was penalized for it.

        2. Meh, Max had 2/3 of the track width available & squeezed to take more. He’s only got himself to blame. Quite disappointed in the stewards again this weekend for penalising racing incidents but letting Alonso get away with huge repeated weaving down the straight & moving under braking to keep opponents behind.
          .

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      18th July 2021, 18:37

      Well, Max put himself in the hospital. On the bright side, Lewis didn’t end up there because of another crazy move by Max…

      1. But max never put anyone in the hospital.
        Lewis did.

        1. It was a racing incident. Max, as always, is a poor loser.

          1. The stewards said different Lewis had the space but went too wide.. or he did delibrate it which i don’t think so he did.

    4. Dave Plummer
      18th July 2021, 21:39

      Hamilton is clearly desperate – terrible driving, could have killed the guy. He knows he cant win fairly so resorts to dangerous driving – classless and arrogant – I really hope he gets beaten hollow in this years Championship as he is 2nd best.

      1. Are you sure that this is a fair comment …………….or a racist rant ?

    5. @ppzzus what did u expext. this is lewis, the man who gets condemned for going to the toilet or waking up.

  3. Has he watched the replay? Verstappen left him over a car’s width of space

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      18th July 2021, 18:41

      On the straight, he squeezed Lewis all the way to the edge… Yes, Verstappen gave him a car’s width and Lewis gave Verstappen 4 car’s widths. Vestappen clipped Lewis, not the other way around. He had enough space to make the corner, he just didn’t have the space to take the entire corner. I think Max simply miscalculated the distance but he did the same crazy move on the corner before that one. Lewis’s job is not to make sure that Max doesn’t crash into him – he simply has to make sure that he doesn’t crash into Verstappen which he did not.

      1. well said!!

        At the end of the day its verstappen he turns in on Hamilton. Its verstappen who ignores this mirrors. Its Verstappen demonstrating his arrogance of other drivers. He rolled the dice on this one.

      2. I’m amazed @freelittlebirds. Even when the professional stewards with all their experience and mutiple angles disagree with you, you still don’t change your mind.

        Lewis made it easy for you. Just watch how he handled Leclerc and see Lewis taking the line Max forced him to take. Only Lewis didn’t make the apex and took his main rival out.

        Yes, Max left him little room, but that’s what you do when you’re fighting a 7 time world champion.

      3. RandomMallard (@)
        18th July 2021, 19:09

        @freelittlebirds Verstappen moves to defend the inside where there is plenty of room, which he is entitled to do. Lewis then changes his mind, and switches from the outside to the inside. Max, seeing this, moves back to the outside of the track, which he is entitled to do. He leaves Hamilton enough space to turn in, and Hamilton understeers (not all his fault, partly due to the dirty track, but you could question why he was on the dirty part of the track anyway. Hamilton is nowhere near as close to the inside as he is when overtaking Leclerc at the end of the race. This is how I see the incident. 10 seconds was the right call imo, and Hamilton did do very well to recover, I have to hand him that.

      4. MisanthropyLives
        18th July 2021, 19:13

        I found it interesting to read the description of the incident. Particularly the part where it says Hamilton’s left-front tire came into contact with Verstappen’s right-rear tire. This detail makes the penalty super suspect but who ever expects Hamilton to get the benefit of FIA’s rulings is a little delusional.

        Now unless Hamilton was somehow driving in reverse, it would seem his front tire would have to hit the back of Verstappen’s rear tire or at least the side of it for us to suggest his car struck Max’s and not the other way around.

        The video shows that Lewis did not steer into Max and that his front wheel was just behind Max’s right-front wheel (not the rear) at the time of contact. Max was aware of where Lewis would be from the time he attempted to squeeze him out along the wall and subsequently failed.

        It should also be noted that Max was well wide of the “racing line” at the point he attempted to turn in.

        By any conventional logic Max turned into Lewis in an attempt to “shut the door” after he was already fully in the proverbial threshold. He did it with the belief that Lewis would back down as he has often done in similar circumstances (as he had done in the previous corner in fact). A foolish choice. He should drive as if the next driver would do exactly what he would do in the same position.

        He has never had to truly “feel” the repercussions of his poorly timed aggression before. Maybe he comes out of this a better driver. Maybe he comes out a little frightened…hopefully a combination of both.

      5. Impossible storyline.
        Lewis had some meters to the right . Totally missing the apex there.
        Remove your goggles and rewind.

        1. If Max was a faster driver this wouldn’t have happened.

  4. False. VER left HAM enough space. HAM was not sufficiently alongside to claim the corner and missed the apex to boot thus squeezing VER. Impact being HAM’s left front on VER’s right rear also speaks volumes.
    I would like to read the exact wording of the stewards’ verdict.

    1. @andrewwj
      ”The Stewards reviewed video and telemetry evidence. Cars 33 and 44 entered turn
      9 with Car 33 in the lead and Car 44 slightly behind and on the inside. Car 44 was on
      a line that did not reach the apex of the corner, with room available to the inside.
      When Car 33 turned into the corner, Car 44 did not avoid contact and the left front of
      Car 44 contacted the right rear of Car 33. Car 44 is judged predominantly at fault.”

      1. Frankly, such reasoning is weird. If the other driver pushes you all the way to the inside you cant aim for the apex. He can be blamed for not being alongside Verstappen, but the apex thing is strange.

        1. Not strange at all… Being in the middle of the track instead of on the inside means he was using a line other than to avoid contact. Being in front Max only needs to leave enough space for more than a car’s width (and in this case there were 2 maybe 3 cars widths… So Lewis is 100% at fault.

        2. pastaman (@)
          18th July 2021, 19:31

          Yes you can, it’s called physics. You can make the apex at any angle if your speed is correct. He in fact made the apex when passing Leclerc on the inside.

        3. Just look at what Hamilton did when overtaking Leclerc. That’s the line he should have taken to avoid contact with Verstappen.

    2. I mean the contact was before the apex so nobody knows if he would make the apex. Also a load of pundits and team principals can’t decide if a penalty was needed.

      To me, both went in hot and neither backed off and it was inevitable.

      1. Yep, yep, yep.

      2. Untrue, we are talking about copse. Max took the wide line defending and had every right to do so as race leader. Lewis missed the apex and lost control.
        Not intentionally I hope.
        Rookie error. (Under pressure, his trademark this season)

      3. neither backed off? when you are in the lead and on the racing line you don’t need to back off for anyone. Lewis would have never made the corner and leave space for Max on the outside with the speed he entered on full tank and cold tires.

        This is clear now after seeing how Lewis aproached the same corner and slowed down when he battled Leclerc (who, having the incident still fresh in his mind, chose to take a wider line and not risk a 51G crash himself). And keep in mind that the car now was way lighter than on lap one.

        1. Difference of opinion here then. To me, both were side by side at the start of the cornering phase and contact was made before the apex so we have no clue what the outcome would have been on corner exit.

  5. CD (@clipperdael)
    18th July 2021, 18:13

    He literally wasn’t fully alongside, though. The fact that his front wheel made contact with Verstappen’s rear wheel should have tipped Hamilton off.

    1. Yes, Hamilton is deluded if he thinks this is in any measure Max’s fault.

  6. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    1. Yep..exactly my thoughts too.

  7. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    18th July 2021, 18:14

    I’m just speechless at that. I just don’t even know where to begin. He was certainly not fully alongside him for one, but wow. This is your champion? Yikes.

    1. Lewis got involved in a first lap scrap that most experts in the sport are struggling to call either way.

      Compare that with Senna, who intentionally rammed Prost in order to win the Championship yet is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

      You need to calm down a little!

      We are talking about fine margins here, not blatant cheating.

      1. that most experts in the sport are struggling to call either way.

        Strange, there are lots of old F1 drivers blaming Lewis.
        You probably missed those ;)

        1. No, I’ve heard most of them. The majority say, as I do, that we’re talking fine margins but that Lewis is probably slightly more to blame.

          Even on that basis the stewards still could have called it a racing incident. As it was, the ‘experts’ gave Hamilton the second most lenient penalty. That in itself speaks volumes.

  8. Verstappen waving for half a lap made the whole situation.

    1. He did weaving in Baku 2018 and we know how it ended. Right weaving is apparently legal in F1 .

    2. Weaving is apparently legal now, see Alonso in the sprint race

      1. I may be wrong (I have not read all the reg pages!!) But I think waving is only banned in the braking zone, for security reasons, and not in the straights.

        FIA has to rethink how this will be applied from 2022 on. Since cars will be less affected by turbulence, we may see more situations like this.

      2. @jeff1s @frasier Making one move to defend and a second move to rejoin the ideal racing line before the corner has been allowed for a long time now. This isn’t weaving.

  9. I concur. Where was he supposed to go, vanish in thin air?

    1. Hug the apex? @jerejj

      1. @paeschli Armco Barrier limits space on the right.

  10. Verstappen left him more than enough space.

    Now begins the inevitable wait for some Hamilton fan to reply claiming that Verstappen squeezed Hamilton through Copse.

    1. Just read the replies of a person calling himself Michael and you’ll get a nice shower of Max-hate.

  11. Will be interesting to see how max reacts to this whole situation. I’m not a max fan but how he approaches this loss could potentially be a defining moment of the season. It’s had to have shaken him a bit.

    1. Given that he champions this type of aggression and shows little respect for others out on track I would have thought he would welcome the same from Hamilton. And maybe realise that Ham diving out the way of a throw it upside the inside Max is what you should think about doing when you are leading said championship. As Max and Horner have liked to say in the past about these types of manoeuvres, ‘Max has nothing to lose’.

    2. If I’m Max, I’m taking notes on what is allowed and only gets you a 10s penalty.

  12. Dirty Lewis is living in his own reality, where hitting a rear tyre with your front tyre means that you are alongside.

    He’s always the victim and everyone else is always to blame.

    1. No sense of his own guilt in a potentially horrific accident. Lost all respect for him today. I was a fan until 18 months ago, but he’s changed.

    2. He’s always the victim and everyone else is always to blame.

      Er, did you listen to Christian Horner?! Have you ever listened to him and Helmut Marko in the past?!

      Red Bull is a team where victim status is engrained in its culture.

      It’s such a shame that Max drives for RB because the team is so, so difficult to like.

    3. Show me a situation where any driver ever accepts blame in any situation. Nobody does, even yourself . I bet there are many times on the road you couldn’t believe what a driver did and were unable to accept or admit to any mistakes you might have made. It’s how competitive people function. I don’t recall max owning any of his mistakes over the years.

    4. The guy might learn to drive some day (miracles happen) but never ever will say anything decent, truthful or respectul.

  13. Hamilton should have shed more speed and driven filurthe to the right. With the line he took he would always have pushed Max off. Now this was much too close to a deliberate huge accident. Penaltypoints more than deserved I would say. This is much too dangerous and it destroys any fair fight for the championship.

    1. So exactly like Max has done for Ham, but in those cases Ham has left the track to avoid a collision. Either you condemn both for that sort of move, or you must expect that the driver on the receiving end will eventually say enough, I’m doing the same. Max and Horner have made it clear enough in the past that that is what Max does; dive down the inside with a crash or move out the way choice for whoever is on the receiving end.

      1. Same storyline .
        Lewis and max exchanged near misses during first laps. Not one more then the other.
        Untill now there was mutual respect.
        Lewis wanted this win at all costs, so he crossed the respect line.
        Pity, but now are the gloves off.

  14. Hoping Mercedes and it’s drivers lose both championships this year.

    1. You’re too full of hate. Max’s aggression caused this. Two or three more time like this and he’ll learn to think more clearly.

      1. The only one who started to think more clearly is Hamilton who took a much more reasonable line when overtaking Leclerc @greenflag

  15. After Hamilton had near pushed him off the track on at least one or two corners before and failed, he then tried again at Copse and despite having more than a cars width to his right, still managed to hit the rear wheel and blame Max.

    What made it worse was when he was told Max was in hospital and asked if it took the shine off the win, he turned around and said no! What little respect I had left for Hamilton went with that statement. To me, that statement showed it was a case he will do whatever he needs to do to win at all costs. He is supposed to be a Knight of the realm, hence his Sir title, after his lack of remorse, I do not feel he is worthy of such a title.

    1. He already knew by this point that it was none critical, just a madatory measure.
      Most people over reacting to the ‘H’ word seems to expect the same responce from everyone else.

      1. You have to remember this interview is some 49 laps after the incident. Don’t you think in that time Hamilton would have an idea if it was Verstappen’s checkups was crtical, serious or routine?

  16. Why does the article not mention that Hamilton’s statements contradict the conclusion reached by the stewards?

  17. Sir Lewis Hamilton should be disqualified for the season for this attrocity. He used his car as a weapon and almoust killed his main rival…

    Then shifts the blame on the guy in the hospital who was in front btw.

    What an utter disgrace and unworthy of driving a car, let alone an F1 car…

    Merc. should find another 3 sec. In that car so everybody can “enjoy” the goat winning in a 4 sec faster car and not trying to kill ppl an track… Just my 2c

  18. This guy is the worst, just an intolerable personality and a complete hypocrite and sore loser. He was aggressive on the Wellington straight trying to squeeze and it didn’t work. His move into copse is something Schumacher would be associated with, but as it’s an Englishman there will be no criticism on the level that there should be. All the journalists from Sky and British based publications won’t say a thing against him. I’m looking forward to the Dutch Gp now with hopefully a fired up Max and crowd to match. Hamilton’s demise will come and I’ll be the first to celebrate it. Hamilton’s following are a piece aswell

    1. @f-duct Haha F1 as been unbearable for you, you love too see it. And no there will be no demise for Lewis atall. Won about 4 WC with Max on the grid he will never right that wrong. So unluckily for you in 10 yrs time the Lewis fans will have one over you.

    2. You should have been around in Schumacher’s reign..

      1. Was mate

  19. Max had a nice dose of… About time too, his driving on wellington straight was wrong basically touching wheels in a straight line infact they did touch. All these new fanboys were defending his agressive moves back when he started. If that was Max today all his supporters would be saying he was fine. Martyon is never gonna criticise Max just like F1osorus aint gonna criticise Lewis. So stop being biast it was a 5 sec penalty at worst for Lewis. Max move in Catalunya was far more agressive. About time he got a shallacking

  20. Sit down Lewhine CHeatinton

    1. What is the black flag for?

  21. Ask any top drivers (Ham, Vet, Ric, Kimi) how it is racing against Max. And they all will say roughly the same thing that they have to be extra cautious with him and give him that little bit extra room both defending and overtaking. Max is the last person to back out of a contact. The whole opening lap, Lewis was avoiding contact but one driver can only avoid contact for so long.
    Max needs to change his attitude and be more “clean”

    1. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
      18th July 2021, 18:44

      Man, Ricciardo already stated he believes Hamilton was responsible for this crash, and Ricciardo was involved at least twice in crashes caused by / with Verstappen so he should not be too biased in favor of him.

    2. He was hit by your man, not the other way round.

    3. Max is firm but he generally keeps it clean and I don’t recall many if any incidents where he has been categorically at fault for a collision. Hamilton on the other hand used to punt Massa off for fun and more recently albon.

      1. Max hitting Vettel China 2018 and Max hitting Vettel Suzuka 2018. That is two already. Why do Max fans have selective memories?

        1. I’m no max fan just anti Hamilton and anti Hamilton fans, 100%

          1. You are in for some serious disappointment this year.

    4. Just a reminder: the stewards have penalised HAMILTON for the crash @amg44

  22. People seem to forget how defensive Max is when he is under threat. Literally moves 2-3x on the racing line and outside of it, causes clashes yet its always him that walks away every time without any blame. Both drivers were aggressive but Max did not leave space and moved mid corner into Hamilton. which from the onboard looks like Hamilton was never ahead but was prior to that. Max and RBR really pushing FIA to only punish Merc and no one else for issues that they themselves cause.

  23. This is the fairest analysis I’ve seen:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw2r2-9LWJQ

    As Chandhok says, they basically each expected the other to back out of it. Neither was trying to cause a collision, so all the cries for a stop-go penalty or disqualification from a future race seem very OTT.

    In my mind, the move was on, but Hamilton didn’t get quite far enough alongside to earn the right for Max to back off more. Hamilton did back out at the last moment, which is why his front wheel hit Max’s back wheel and not further up the side of the car, but it was too late to avoid a collision at that point.

    So both drivers can take some responsibility, but Hamilton deserves more of the blame and I think that’s why the stewards reached the conclusion they did. As most people have argued here for years, the outcome of an incident shouldn’t affect the severity of the penalty, therefore 10s time penalty seems more than enough for an opening lap move that fell slightly short and caused an accident.

    1. I think Karun is the only person looking at this with a cool head. I think his analysis was spot on.

      I err towards more of the blame leaning Lewis, but not to the extent I think it’s any more than a racing incident.

      1. He and Davidson both take the time to analyse it carefully and dis-passionately, which I appreciate. Most race commentators, including ex-drivers, do not (often because they can’t at the time) and therefore their opinions can be quite subjective and wide-ranging IMO.

        Definitely a case for racing incident, or even a smaller penalty, but I think the decision was fairly consistent with previous decisions. My guess is they went 10s rather than 5s because of it being a high-speed corner, and they naturally will want to discourage incidents at such corners in particular.

    2. A balanced and nuanced comment – are you sure you’re on the right website?

      1. This place is practically neutral compared to twitter. The vitriol people come out with in the heat of the moment is quite something.

  24. LeClerc showed everyone how to handle that inside move by Hamilton. Lewis wasn’t going back down after Imola and Barcelona. This was bound to happen. Max should’ve have been more cautious and thought about the championship. I mean why risk it when you have a faster car and you are leading the championship.

  25. Jeffrey Powell
    18th July 2021, 18:50

    Firstly I think Max is a fantastic driver probably the quickest at the moment , he has beaten Lewis in wheel to wheel combat in the last few races with super combative driving , Lewis has given way because the alternative would have been what we saw today. Not to decry Max’s driving it is what we want to see , but I believe he maybe he has become slightly overconfident that Lewis would back off. This sort of incident happens very often at the start of GP’s ,it is very unfortunate that the result was so dramatic , obviously Lewis’s driving was the main cause but not the only cause, I believe the Stewards penalty was reasonable, to react the way Horner reacted you would think Lewis had pushed him off the road intentionally ,ridiculous!.

  26. I mean being responsible for a crash is one thing but throwing Max under the bus with his remarks is not classy at all especially considering the fact that Max is lying in the hospital :(

    1. I do think he should have said he hopes Max is ok in the public interview, though everything else he said is pretty much what I’d expect. He’s in a real battle this year and he knows he can’t give an inch or show any weakness.

      Max is known for being particularly uncompromising (and many of the drivers confirm this to be the case), so it’s important Lewis shows no signs of weakness at this point.

      If he’d have said he was sorry for the incident, or anything of that nature, it would signal to Max he has the upper-hand psychologically. Going to make the rest of the season extra tasty!

  27. Lewis himself had a car width on the inside so it’s impossible that Max left no space.

    1. Space alone isn’t the issue, in this situation its space to turn. You don’t go from driving parallell to the trace to turning 45 degrees. Short of slaming on the brakes, i dont see how Verstappen left him enough space. To cap this, rather than take the corner a little wider, Verstappen turns in as if having no memory of the racing up to that point. The ‘lets just pretend he isnt there’ move.

      1. *parallel to the track*

      2. But why should the leading driver care of the guy behind can make the corner? He can always slow down. This was exactly what Lewis did with Leclerc, back out because you can’t make the corner with such speed from that position.

  28. It wasn’t an *overtake*, it was a *disturbance*.
    Lewis had enormous straightline pace, and used it from the start to constantly nag Max out of position in AND out of corners.
    He wasn’t trying for an overtake, after the squeeze, but simply stayed where he was put, slowed down enough to make the corner without coming out of it all the way to the left, and took his line.
    Max, on the outside, squeezed Lewis (which had squared the previous corner, and came out at full beans, while Max had touched the grass, having been again put out of sorts by Lewis on entry) as he was a few km/h quicker, but in doing so put himself out of position on entry too.
    They get *into * the corner (meaning, as they start to steer in, in their respective positions longitudinally on track) exactly side by side (to be precise, a wheel or so less. What the regs call “substantially alongside”).
    He’d have had to slow down as well, while taking a much later apex so to square the corner leaving room on the inside, where he last left Lewis hanging.
    That he cut across to take the standard line is precisely what is inconceivable to Max’s detractors: you left him there, where is he supposed to go? You left room on entry and not on the apex, so it’s semantics.
    As for Lewis’ detractors, he should have pulled out the anchor, and stopped, he had been outclassed by the younger rival and should have admitted defeat there and then.

    I tend towards the view that it is a racing accident, and of the view that Max was indeed very aggressive on the opening lap, in the wrong way (f.e. cutting across the front needlessly, in something that looked like scare tactics.).
    Lewis couldn’t do much in this case, but it’s a wonder he found himself in it in the first place, he should have known the risk was there with Max.

  29. Wow he’s been at the factory and everything. Then we know where a lot of the car’s improved pace came from. No mention of the updates to the floor, barge boards and other critical aero bits, so I guess they didn’t help as much.

    1. Everyone knows that Lewis going to the factory is cheating. Max would never go the factory before a race.

      1. @greenflag No it’s shameless bragging. He wants to make out that the speed gain was down to him, even though the team had a major car upgrade before the race. Just as the poor start in the sprint race was down to the team, and not him. That’s how it always is with Hamilton and it’s incredibly grating. I just don’t understand how people can be a fan of this.

        1. It’s easy to be a Hamilton supporter. He’s the fastest, most complete driver in several generations. If you don’t appreciate this, that’s OK too.

  30. Racing incident 100%.

    1. Nope, penalised.
      100% to blame for.

      1. Well nothing happened to Senna either at Japan 1990…but on the other side there should be an investigation on this.

    2. You’re the biggest troll on this site, muppet

      1. Except is was a racing incident. Watch Karun Chandhok’s analysis. He is spot on.

      2. gg me AFK you noob

      3. yOu’re the BiGgeST tROll on THis sIte, MUPPeT

        WHOOOOOOOOOOA! Punk! Seriously, punk!
        What the hell do you think my behavior is? Is my behavior worse than people such as the Russian anon and the banned former site member?! False claim, dismissed and debunked! I’m better than these two unfriendly anons mentioned!

      4. You say me the biggest troll on this site, F-Duct? 4 kills? Only you 4 kills? And your noob teammate only 2 kills? Huh? Muppet? Hey! You are a muppet and not me! You keep making false accusations against me when I’m just saying my opinion! You are the biggest noob – actually one of the biggest noobs ever! The race director is better! Race director – Michael Masi is better! NO EMAIL CHECK, LISTENS TO PEOPLE’S OPINIONS ON THE CRASH, THAT’S ALL! YOU ARE WORSE THAN MICHAEL MASI! You understand this? You understand this? You? You understand this? GG me AFK you noob. Me troll the rest of the season. You will no longer see me saying that something is a racing incident anymore. Me troll the rest of this season.

  31. Completely agree with Hamilton.
    Maxcrash got used to driving unsportsmanlike, crashing his rivals or forcing them off the track.
    Today Hamilton, one of the great champions in history, did the right thing.

    1. I’ll send him a rope so he can do the right thing

      1. Send who a rope and for what purpose?

    2. Going, going, gone.

    3. “Dislike mercedes noobs this team is full of trash…….Dislike red bull noobs lap 69 austria 2019…….Dislike mclaren noobs biggest failure honda seasons ever…….only ferrari for the win no p2 or p3…….” – You, probably

    4. plus weaving like crazy from Saturday. Forcing others onto bad curbs in dangerous situations. If not put in place now, he would think it’s a normal thing.

    5. mAxCrAsH

      you very noob

  32. Dr. J. Halton
    18th July 2021, 21:16

    Hamilton made a mistake, he was on the wrong line on the dirty part of the track entering too quickly so understeered into Max who had the corner. Stewards agreed, Hamilton was penalised (not enough) end of. Been there, never done that.

    1. No. Look from privous corner. Weaving and compressing people onto extreme and finally turning the steering thinking you would damage the other drivers’s tires by forcing them to brake hard it could be dangerous at times. We thankful Max would come to the track from next race.

  33. When you consider the speeds and direction they were travelling when they collided, it was impossible for Hamilton’s front to drive into Verstappen’s rear wheel as Verstappen was the one moving fastest.
    Verstappens rear wheel comes from behind Hamilton’s front wheel therefore Verstapppen must have driven into Hamilton.

  34. Kimberley Barrass
    19th July 2021, 8:06

    I consider myself a fan of both drivers and the way I see it:

    HAM: “I’m here. Give me Space.” – 31 seconds into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzi9lrTWWD4
    VER: “I’m coming over. Back Off” – 29 seconds into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9RCN4g54Gw

    I’m super pleased with both drivers quite frankly.. – This is what racing is all about.. – In a non open-wheel series this wouldn’t have resulted in such a shunt by Max which is absolutely tragic but Hamilton definitely didn’t move into him.. – In fact, from the first video – I think Ham was pulled further left from the impact.. – You can see the force of Max’s rear right hitting Hams front left and straightening the wheel a bit and Ham fighting against it.. – If there was no impact I think Ham would have been nearer the apex..

    But from Max’ perspective – He steered right looking to hit the apex.. – check his angle and his steering input.. – there was no attempt to slow and take the corner wide..

    As far as I’m concerned – terrible outcome – but good fighting instincts from both. – Great race – hope there’s more to come without the horrible outcome for the rest of the year!

  35. Ironic reading Hamilton calling Verstappen aggressive while he has accumulated the most penalty points in the past years for hitting other people.

  36. Dislike mercedes noobs this team is full of trash…….Dislike red bull noobs lap 69 austria 2019…….Dislike mclaren noobs biggest failure honda seasons ever…….only ferrari for the win no p2 or p3…….

  37. Max was wrong in my opinion. He raced with a gut feeling like: I’ll take that corner just because I have the fastest speed. But it turned out completely different. He wanted to go into the space that wasn’t there at all and that caused the crash. He shouldn’t say that Lewis didn’t give him space, why would Lewis give him that they are both fighting for the hard points for the championship then you won’t be handing out presents?

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