Hamilton and Verstappen blame each other over crash and lap one incident

2021 Italian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen blamed each other for the collision which ended their races – and the lap one skirmish which preceded it

The pair collided at the Rettifilo on lap 26 of the race. Hamilton had just emerged from the pits ahead of Verstappen, who attempted to drive around the outside of him at turn one and pass at the inside of turn two.

Verstappen touched a high ‘sausage kerb’ on the inside of the corner, rode onto Hamilton’s car, and the pair came to a stop in a gravel trap. Hamilton said he was “a little bit stiff and sore in my neck, it landed on my head, but I’ll be okay.”

Hamilton came out of the pits between Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen. “I came out, I saw Daniel came past, Max was coming, I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him.

“I went into turn one and I was ahead, I was ahead going into turn two and then all of a sudden he was on top of me.”

On the first lap of the race Hamilton had been forced across the run-off area at the Roggia chicane while trying to pass Verstappen in a similar fashion. He said the two incidents were comparable, and showed Verstappen should have backed out in the later incident.

“It’s exactly the same scenario as happened in turn four where I went around the outside, I was in exactly the same position but I gave way,” said Hamilton. “And that’s racing. He just didn’t want to give way today.

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“He knew into turn two what was going to happen. He knew that he was going over the kerb but he still did it.”

Verstappen rejected the comparison between the two incidents. “I don’t think you can judge them exactly the same. He just kept on squeezing and squeezing while I was really a lot alongside him.

“You need two people to work together to make the corner and we are fighting for position. Unfortunately we touched.”

Verstappen denied there was any lingering animosity on his part following the collision between the pair at Silverstone in July, which led him to crash out heavily.

“Of course people automatically start talking about Silverstone. These things happen, of course it was not nice at the time. I think we are all professional enough to just get on with it and keep on racing each other.

“But then I didn’t expect him to keep squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. Because he didn’t even need to. Even if he would have left me just a car width we would have raced out of turn two anyway and I think he would have probably still been in front.

“But then he just kept on pushing me wider and wider and at one point there was no way to go, he just pushed me onto the sausage kerb and that’s why, at the end of the day, we touched because of the rear tyre bumped up to his tyre.”

The stewards are investigating the incident and have summoned the pair to explain their roles in the collision.

Update: Verstappen given three-place grid penalty for Hamilton crash

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2021 Italian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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152 comments on “Hamilton and Verstappen blame each other over crash and lap one incident”

  1. Had Hamilton given VER more room, VER still wouldn’t have made T2, going straight on and ramming into HAM. So, to me, VER is the only one who could have avoided a collision. He didn’t and they crashed.

    1. exactly
      I think it’s crystal clear. if HAM’s car wasn’t there VER would have never made the corner. case closed

      1. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
        12th September 2021, 16:25

        And how many times have you ever sat in a racecar at turn 1 during a GP at Monza?

        Case closed :clown:

        1. Barry trying to defend VER :embarrassed face:

        2. @berry bensin, whats upp with namecalling! Chill the eff down.

        3. @barryfromdownunder, you’re eloquence is legendary.

          1. (and my grammar is too)

        4. You don’t have to sit in an F1 car to understand basic physics.

          1. And you do not need to have an education to “understand physics it seems :)
            Nothing wrong with his angle of attack at that speed.

        5. The only clown is u mate, with this kind of orange face. Read the verdict, educate ur self, stop hating on Mercedes then comment again.

        6. many people here sim race. we know what t1 at monza is like. if you want to say sim racing has no bearing, then why dont you tell that to all the drivers that use if for practice, and some teams that use sims for setup. its a racing geometry issue. you dont need to be a genius.

      2. If HAM’s car wasn’t there, VER would never have had to take the line round the outside of it at T1 in the first place.

        Your argument is flawed.

        1. It is exactly what Max did to Lewis on Lap 1. Except that here Max chose not to escape at an angle like how Lewis did, but chose to join perpendicular to the track. If you think the turn 1 incident was was Lewis’s fault then I guess you also agree that Lap 1 was Max’s fault.

      3. Nope. Just take a look at the start with Norris in that position. Lewis left enough room and came ahead out of the corner. Exactly as Max described.

        1. Norris was either ahead of Lewis or side by side, against Max, Lewis came across to the racing line for a better entry and also make the entry for Max very tight which wasnt illegal. Max wanted to force his way through by going over the yellow curb.

      4. It is not clear at all but I am fine with the stewarts ruling. Max predominantly to blame. Imho this will happen everytime as long as Lewis doesnt want to play ball. He was entitled to the corner in this case but chose to let it become a crash. Which it did t need to be. So be it.

    2. Ver is just a Spoilt Brat!!!

      The Stewards have Spoiled him

    3. Calm down, seriously. That being said, I think that the plan was always for Hamilton to retire at the end of this year, I think he only signed an extra two years to mentor Russell – I said at the time when he signed so early for two years that this was the plan and I still firmly believe that. I also think it’s why we had such drawn out negotiations last year – Merc always wanted a good overlap but didn’t want to rush Russell’s promotion. I’m certain that the two years was part and parcel of last years negotiations, hence the weird amount of time it took, but they staggered the announcements, mostly for Bottas, and to not ruin his chances at the start of the year. They announced as soon as it was clear he wasn’t in the hunt, and that Russell hadn’t lost anything. I also think Bottas Knew what the 2 year extension meant, hence his drop in form since that announcement, and hence why he has already negotiated with Alpa Romeo.

      1. Alfa Romeo… what a horrible typo!

    4. This is the best day for F1 – Lewis should have died

      You must be pretty sick.
      Being a “fan” does not excuse these kind of reactions. M

    5. Penalty and rightly so

  2. Hamilton came out of the pits between Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen. “I came out, I saw Daniel came past, Max was coming, I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him.

    Obviously unimportant in the grand scheme of things but it was Norris in the McLaren just ahead of them.

  3. I wonder how the Verstappen apologists will spin this one….

    1. on the other thread they’re saying it’s a “racing incident”

      1. And I side with them.

    2. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
      12th September 2021, 16:23

      The irony.
      In Silverstone it was Verstappen who was the big bad wolf according to Hammie-fans because he didn’t leave any room. Now it’s Hamilton doing the exact same thing and AGAIN it’s Verstappen who’s to blame.

      Just admit you swallow everything Hamilton/Mercedes gives you and be done with it

      1. But Hamilton did try to pull out of the move at Silverstone, you did see it didn’t you?

      2. You mean, like how Ginger Spice was so apoplectic at Silverstone, but the calmest guy in the after incident interview today?

      3. Lewis is untouchable and flawless to these fans. Just let them believe it. They only have a few years left..

      4. It is funny indeed, the more you think about it. Ham fans really cant see anything but him being the king. In this case they are so inconsistent it has become a joke. I can easily admit Max was more to blame here. I do not have to make him flawless. Just remember two cars fit perfectly fine through this corner. I think Verstappen is genuinely disappointed since he had hoped Lewis would have some skill level. Yet twice now Max was taken out given Lewis turns out to be a fairly good raxing driver, but not a great

    3. @kbdavies well I don’t know, the professional pundits over on a British website are convinced that Hamilton could have done more to avoid and Verstappen had every right to go for this. Go figure.

      1. If you’re talking about the race, people who rate drivers there seem absolutely unbiased, they gave a very bad mark at monaco to hamilton, who wasn’t a struggler on here.

      2. @hahostolze and @barryfromdownunder – i totally understand you Verstappen fans inhabit an alternate reality universe just like your hero.

        Unfortunately, no amount of hifalitin statements and academic kung-fu can spin this one.

        Verstappen was to blame. There was no way he would have made the corner with that line. He knew it and deliberately crashed.

        His statement afterwards – “that’s what you get for not leaving room” is testament to his foolish attitude.

        He should get some treatment, just like you guys.

        1. @gigantor I’m a Kimi fan. But knock yourself out.

        2. It’s fine to be emotional about the incident, as others were over Silverstone. But attacking other fans is just low.

        3. I missed the racist card in your deck..

        4. luckily you are talking about an opinion….
          don’t act as if an opinion is the same as a fact

    4. If max doesn’t get a serious penalty, I think it s safe to say ham will ensure to crash max next time around. Because it is extremely disappointing and disgusting behaviour from max, for him it does t matter you re ahead or behind into a corner as shown and proven today with his behaviour. If they don’t seriously penalise max, they will be opening can of worms, and it won’t be pleasant watching bumper cars, max has one style which is win at all costs.

      1. I think it s safe to say ham will ensure to crash max next time

        So, double standards are alright with you :)

    5. As a self-proclaimed Max apologist, I’m more or less okay with the stewards decision and the subsequent penalty. Max was frustrated after being stuck behind Ricciardo since the start + the slow pitstop and lost his cool.
      He seems pretty unfazed after the whole incident though, so I still get the feeling he has the best mentality and is handling the pressure of fighting for the championship better than ‘experienced’ Lewis.

      1. Max was frustrated after being stuck behind Ricciardo since the start + the slow pitstop and lost his cool.

        And then

        so I still get the feeling he has the best mentality

        How?

      2. Pardon me for asking
        13th September 2021, 6:35

        He’s ‘unfazed’ because points wise this was probably the best outcome for him compared to ‘might have been’. He retains his small WDC lead.
        Given the mercs apparent speed this weekend and compounded by Max’s poor start and Red Bull’s terrible pit stop it looked very much like Ham could have gone on to take Norris and maybe even Ricciardo if he had remained ahead of Max. Thus at the time of interview Max was likely satisfied with the result; probably less so once he got his grid penalty for Sochi though. But maybe he’ll take an engine penalty there anyway…

  4. In a race where it was almost impossible to pass, the matrix messed all pit stops and called a safety car to put them side by side into the first corner. Whoever is running this simulation is getting a bit lazy.

  5. 50-50. Hamilton could have given him more room but didn’t need to. Verstappen could have backed out but had room to attempt passing. Every argument to blame one more than other can be made in the opposite direction, it was a racing incident.

    1. Hamilton would have made the corner if it wasn’t for Verstappen, Verstappen would have never made it if Hamilton wasn’t there. try to spin this argument towards the opposite direction …

      1. Why wouldn’t Ver make the corner? You couldn’t possibly know, cause it didn’t get to that point. Too much “would have, could have” in your reasoning. Seen plenty of cars going through turn 2 along side each other though…
        Adam giving a fair assessment of the incident imho.

    2. @rocketpanda “Hamilton could have given him more room” and that’s the problem, the only way to avoid a crash with Max is to give up a corner… regardless if you’re on the inside or outside, ahear or behind. Here Ham was ahead and on the inside… just look at exaclty moment before turn into t1… Ham is ahead by half a car length and inside. The only way Max was able to get alongside is by keeping so much speed it made t2 impossible… not that that speed or with than angle, nevermind with another car next to you. If you in that situation have to give up a corner then its not racing, its who is willing to put their life on the line more… and life of a competitor.

      1. I’d say neither are particularly known for giving room to their rivals after losing count of the times Hamilton just drove Rosberg clearly off the track. I’m not saying one is right and the other is wrong, but neither of them give a lot of room for someone overtaking them and seem to have even less room for each other. To be honest I don’t think Verstappen would have passed him there even if Hamilton had have given him room, the angle of the turn always meant Hamilton would have greater traction exiting so squeezing him so tight there wasn’t necessary.

        1. I think you are spot on

        2. Keeping the racing line is not running someone off the track

        3. A close inspection of the cockpit view shows that verstrappen didnt really try to drive out of that corner but continued to plough on and let hamilton run out of road. Again, I might have observed it wrong. I’m wondering if Hamilton shut the door on him at that corner because Max did the same thing to him on lap 1. Lewis was clearly alongside and max took a wide entry to that left hander essentially blocking ham out and forcing him to cut the corner.

  6. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    12th September 2021, 16:24

    Hamilton came out of the pits between Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen. “I came out, I saw Daniel came past, Max was coming, I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him.

    No you didn’t – you pushed Max onto the green kerbs.

    “I went into turn one and I was ahead, I was ahead going into turn two and then all of a sudden he was on top of me.”

    Funny on lap 1 you gave Lando more space despite Max being further alongside than Lando.

    1. Lap one turn one you expect two lanes to form which is normal due to the amount of action… in the rest of the race that’s no longer the case, unless both cars and very much alongside each other going into the corner. This didn’t happen here, Max was half a car length behind on entry.

    2. Geez, you’ve literally refused to accept the facts in front of you. It’s concerning.

      Lap 1, turn 4, HAM deploys brains. Sometime later, turn 1, MAX refuses once again to deploy his.

      1. Lap 1, turn 4, HAM deploys brains.

        Aha, that’s where he lost them..

        1. So, same for Max at T2. Nothing to do with LH then……..

  7. Lewis and Max blamed each other as they should. I thank both for giving us a great race.

    1. Great race how? When top 2 guys are out 1/3 of the race in? Have you seen racing because all I’ve seen was the start and following, aside from Bottas who was completely out of position.

    2. @ruliemaulana exactly and we even got a Danny Ric win which everyone can gather around and the comedical awkwardness of verstappen leaving the car and ham trying to hopelessly reverse out from below another car. All the while the Benny hill theme song was playing in my head. Good times.

  8. Pretty hilarious that Mercedes are now saying that Verstappen committed a ‘tactical foul’, which they got VERY offended by when Red Bull suggested the same after Silverstone.

    1. The ham fans follow the narrative.
      All very understandable and predictable.

      1. It must be nice, feeling the need to be ever present in every comment section defending Verstappen. Not speaking anything against Verstappen fans but you sir have no life!

        1. Predictable as is said :)

          1. And that urge to get the last word in as well! What poor thing happened during your childhood or are you a 12 year old with internet?

  9. Hamilton had no fault whatsoever, he squeezed as was his right to do so. Still, can’t really blame Verstappen for trying. It was unfortunate the rear wheel launching. Had him collected the sausage kerb only, he’d still be behind.

    Nice tangle though! Another highlight for the season. :)

  10. Hamilton didn’t leave enough room so at faul, but so was Verstappen earlier and didn’t get a penalty so this shouldn’t either. Personally I think both incidents should get, as pushing off track is not sporting.

    1. Let me correct you, Lap 1, turn 4, MAX pushes HAM off, but HAM has the experience to back out.

      Sometimes later, turn 1, MAX tries to push his way around the outside. He ruins the race for both of them.

      One day, perhaps, he’ll learn to back out when he’s not ahead.

      1. @theswift Max is building a reputation of being a bully. That’s how he plans to win when he doesnt have the speed or the package. Of course he isn’t realising yet that F1 is full of narcissists who all believe they are the best and can never be wrong. We’ll have to wait until some dies for FIA to step in.

      2. You are most conveniently forgetting the sausage kerb. Max would have been just pushed outside without it

      3. It allready happened before With Hamilton.
        Against Maldonado at Valencia, and Hamilton ended on the wall. Hamilton often pushes people out. I’ve watched videos from times when e was driving for McLaren, he allready had this technique.
        Max, like Rosberg before said « Nah. Ya don’t fool me »
        They crashed, but Max is aware of Hamilton tricks.
        Just watch vids of Ham’s pass, he does that all the time.
        Now, today, he has been out twice because someone using his own technique against him (Max at turn four, like max at Imola), and at the first chicane, because Max said « na, i dont play your game. YOU need point. You are behind at championship. Now think, ok ? »

        1. Hamilton tricks? Wow.

          1. The so called Hamilton move (c)
            Yep well known. I. E. He used it several times on Albon

        2. For managing to call Max shoving Hamilton off track on the first lap a Hamilton trick you deserve the race Trophy.

    2. Hamilton bailed out the first one and prevented and accident.
      Verstappen deliberately caused an accident – The point you missed out on.

    3. Ver should’ve just Gone Straight there
      Like Most Other drivers

      There was No Making the Corner there

  11. Max more to blame on this one but less severe than what Lewis did in Silverstone because of the nature of the corner which should definetly be considered. This puts the stewards in a predicament because even a 1 place grid penalty next race is a more drastic penalty that 10sec in the race.

    1. And the minimum is 3 if they decide to give a penalty, so hard decision indeed.

    2. I think if you were to rank incidents in order of seriousness, a car’s wheel, spinning due to power input from the engine touching the helmet of another driver ranks above a high speed crash into a barrier.

      1. Mr Will Jones.
        You have no idea what the torque of that engine and they tyres can do to a human turso or head. Trust me, it can be a lot worse than hitting the barrier whilst in the safety of your race car. Nevertheless, it was in all probability unintentional.

        1. Of course it was unintentional! I’m certainly not saying that it was, but the back wheels were spinning as they made contact with his helmet, it’s very clear to see.

        2. I also think we agree – when I say “ranks above” I mean it was more serious, and significantly so.

  12. Sometimes Max, you just have to back out of it.

  13. Max’s fault, an upper hand for Lewis in Russia. Let’s move on.

  14. Did Max really say “That’s what you get” over the radio after the crash? 1 race ban would be appropriate but won’t happen.

    1. I need any further updates on this.

    2. I believe it was “that’s what you get when you don’t leave enough space”. Context is everything. It was hardly intentional, though possibly stupid. I’ll wait for the stewards

      1. Blaize Falconberger (@)
        12th September 2021, 16:46

        Heat of the moment comment, but it doesn’t sound good… in the circumstances….

      2. I’m waiting for the conclusion.

    3. He said “that’s what you get when you don’t leave space” or something along those lines.

      He meant “if one doesn’t leave space that’s what happens” – I doubt he was referring to “you” meaning Hamilton personally.

      1. Of course he didn’t, but you ruin a good story about Big bad max.

  15. Inevitable. I hope the stewards grow a proverbial pair and apply the right sanctions.

    1. I hope they are entirely consistent with how they have been stewarding the races all of this year, and if they do intend to make an adjustment with how they apply the rules, they do so between this season and next, after issuing guidance with which rules they intend to steward differently.

  16. Give them both back of the grid starts and decide thr order by which team takes replacement parts penalty first.

    It will sort out both penalties for parts equally and give both a penalty for the incident. Nobody gets an advantage.

  17. Of course they do, they’re racing drivers. But I’d be surprised if either of them got a penalty.

  18. 5 place grid penalty the minimum. Lewis yielded against him on Lap 1 but this guy as always never ever back off and is very crash-brave.

    1. Clowns do not make it as stewards

  19. More on Max’s fault, but I believe that this will be a racing incident because both were out of the race. Although, I would not be surprised if a grid penalty or penalty points were given here. I think the best is a racing incident and move on.

  20. Hamilton exited the stewards room with kinesiology tape in the neck.

    1. A bit extra drama always help.

      1. Just like tweeting from a hospital, right!

  21. Racing incident, I suppose. Also completely predictable. Hamilton left room into the first turn and defended entry into the next. Verstappen argues there was not enough space left for him, which is true…but should he really expect Hamilton to offer it at that point? Would he?

    1. Hamilton is behind on championship.
      If he closes the door, from the outside to the inside, leaving no roim, the opponent car will finish into his own car and he can retire from it.
      So it’s not very clever from him.

      If he backs up, he can have another opportinty later.
      Max had warmer tires.
      Other than him has made this move successful.
      Because there were room.
      Other drivers proved it today

      1. I see your point, but I think you have to look at the other side of the equation. If Max stays ahead then and HAM is unable to pass, then it is net loss for HAM in the championship standing. The “tactical” foul angle works both ways here. The way I see it: despite the crash HAM came out the winner by minimizing points loss. Had they finished with VER bring ahead, HAM would be more behind in the points. Summary: racing incident, on to Russia.

        1. I believe it is very likely that if Hamilton left him room there and both made the corner, Verstappen would squeeze him out on the exit and not leave enough room on the outside either…and call it a clean pass. Maybe both should have gotten back of grid penalty for Russia just to bring these things to their attention? I honestly don’t know.

  22. Good for the halo, if it weren’t there Lewis’s head could have been torn off or his neck broke. I realize Max couldn’t have known how close it was, but he at least could have shown some concern for his fellow driver’s health after the incident. At least asked after him, if nothing else. From what I saw it looked like he didn’t really care if Lewis had been injured or not.

    1. Irony incoming…

      1. Lewis’s first radio after the Silverstone accident was “Is Max OK?”
        Max’s first radio was “That’s what you get.”

        One’s a bit more sporting than the other.

    2. And especially the way he enjoyed the ricci win. Ridiculous,

    3. After Silverstone max was completely justified.

  23. “He’ll definitely kill a driver”? Seriously?

    Don’t be ridiculous.

    1. He will… He won the lottery not killing Lewis today. I would retire if I were him but these people cannot stop themselves.

      1. could’ve been the other way around in Silverstone

  24. He’s definitely a Maldonado

  25. Max should’ve realized to back off when he had a chance.

  26. RandomMallard (@)
    12th September 2021, 16:58

    These two need to stop hitting each other. It makes doing my maths homework much more difficult when they keep giving me reasons to get distracted.

  27. I think the orange kerb deserves a mention. Without it, we’d not have had a wheel pressing down on Lewis’ helmet, but just an old fashioned touch and go… I think F1 should reconsider those deterrents, because once those cars are up in the air, there’s no way to control them and they bounce all over the place… if you go off at Della Roggia, you get the same result: Gio could’ve been more careful, but those kerbs bounce your car around until you’re in the middle of the track with little room for a safe rejoin.

    1. Agreed, there are several serious incidents with those curbs. Something to adapt in several tracks.
      But the real cause was the contact between the rear tire of max climbing the front tire of Lewis. M

      1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaPKqGO59T0

        Would you care to point out the timestamp where “the rear tyre of max climbing the front tyre of Lewis” [sic]

  28. RandomMallard (@)
    12th September 2021, 17:00

    @freelittlebirds I’m sorry but the laws of the universe make is so that you cannot claim that to be the Comment of All Time.

    You have already claimed the title earlier today

  29. Both could have avoided this, but it can’t be a surprise to anyone that neither did. It’s just a bad look for the sport when F2 kids can navigate this corner whilst fighting for position but two F1 veterans can’t. F1 needs more scraps like the one between Alonso and Russell earlier this season, and less like whatever it is Hamilton and Verstappen are doing.

  30. Max is having so many crashes with arguably the cleanest driver on the grid. Wait till the new generation (Lec, Lando, Russell) starts fighting with Max regularly. You will see whole lot more crashes. Max needs to change his crash-prone mentality FAST.

    1. @amg44

      Max is having so many crashes with arguably the cleanest driver on the grid

      I’m no Verstappen fan but C’mon let’s not exaggerate regardless of who was to blame in this particular incident. Hamilton is far from being a clean driver, let alone the cleanest on the grid. Throughout his career he managed to crash into his championship rivals consistently like Raikkonen, Massa, Webber, Button, Vettel, Alonso, Rosberg, Verstappen. Apart from the latter 2, I think the others are well known for being reasonable drivers.

    2. Interestingly, these are the first penalty points for Max @amg44 He’s been squeaky clean up until Monza.

  31. My take is that it was a racing incident. The problem is that Verstappen is forcing Lewis wide often in similar circumstances and then has the audacity to ask for space. It’s the attitude that is starting to get a little tiresome.

    1. This and Imola and Silverstone, yes.

      1. I still feel that Silverstone was more Hamilton to blame because Max actually did leave some space there, but Imola, Barcelona, here on lap one at Monza, I mean it’s a little too many incidents now.

        1. I felt the same as you about Silverstone, but in the end I think it was unintentional.

  32. Today it was a case of double standards from Max.

    On lap 1, he firmly shut the door on Lewis when they approached turn 4 & 5. He put him on to the kerbs and didn’t leave a car’s, or even half a car’s, width. But when he went round the outside at turn 1 on lap 26, he expected Lewis to leave more space. He needed to back out of the turn 1 move, the same way Lewis did on lap 1, instead he made decision to crash instead of losing a position.

    I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get a penalty for this accident. He needs to get his racing etiquette in order. You can’t just bully people when you’re defending and expect them to not have the same attitude when the tables turn.

    1. @todfod, max won’t get a penalty that’s for sure but something needs to be done as it gone go on like this where only lewis backs off as not to crash and max could care less if they crash. he was never making that corner and he knew it but still didn’t back down.

      1. @lucifer

        I agree. He was so far on the outside that he was already on the kerbs, and he could see Lewis front wheels in front of his front wing. There was no way he would have made that corner or the move stick. Even if Lewis slammed his brakes and backed out of the move, Max would have driven in to the side of him.

        This was just his frustration of losing time in the pit stop.

    2. First of all, sorry @todfod I reported your comment by mistake…

      And I wanted to say I agree with what you said. In particular that Max seems to try and bully the more direct/serious opponents (he doesn’t seem to do it all the time) as you said. I was watching with a friend and said of the incident in Lap 1 that Max would never let Lewis through. It seems to have that do or die attitude assuming others don’t have the guts to commit to the same.

      I like Max, I don’t want Lewis to win again this year, but I also believe this crash is Max’s fault.

  33. Let’s check in on racefans dot com for some balanced user commenta- oh dear it’s HDF as per…

    1. Try youtube lol!

      1. If that’s not spicy enough head to Instagram.

  34. Max bouncing around on sausage kerbs was only going to end one way….. Similar red mist rage maneuver that Pastor Maldonado pulled off on Lewis Valencia 2012, crashtor got a 20 second penalty so i expect Max to get a grid penalty in Russia.
    More worrying I see similarities between Max and Pastor when it comes to not controlling their anger and rage using their car as a weapon. Max was furious and full of rage after the botched 11+ second pit as seen with is abusive swearing on the radio which led up to the anger filled botched overtake on Lewis.

    Also shocking is the lack of respect or empathy from Max not checking on Lewis with his car all over the back of the Merc. Petulant Max is going to get someone killed with his driving one day if he does not control his anger.

    1. @ccpbioweapon Unpopular opinion but Lewis was the one at fault in that Maldonado incident, but Crashtor got the penalty because of his reputation.
      And before I’m accused of anti-Lewis bias, I actually agree with the stewards decision today.

      1. How?

        Maldonado went off the track completely then speared back on right into Hamilton further round the corner?

        Unpopular or plain wrong?

  35. Max deliberately caused an incident. He made that strong impression on radio after the crash.

    Max also admitted he believed Lewis would have gotten the position regardless. The only thing that explains his actions to not bail out, was that he’d rather cause an end to both their races than let Lewis inevitably get the position.

    Max was never going to make the corner. He knew that.

    1. Exactly the same at Silverstone but the other way round.

  36. The stewards need to decide whether to give Verstappen a 3, 5 or 10 place grid penalty in Sochi.

  37. So, the stewards have held Verstappen at fault for this incident and as a Verstappen fan, I accept that.

  38. My comment was deleted but I’ll post it again. Verstappen does NOT belong in F1! I stand behind it 100%

    1. @freelittlebirds These are his first two penalty points on his license. One bad judgement call doesn’t negate 12 months of clean driving up until now.

  39. Alex Albon will be recreating the accident next weekend. (Prolly)

  40. Just watched it again for the first time after the race. This time it looked 100% Verstappen’s fault. There was no way there was ever going to be any room for him to make that pass and yet he went for it. This is where F1 needs a Whiting or – dare I say it – an Ecclestone to have a quiet word with both drivers/teams to cool it before someone gets seriously hurt. That isn’t going to happen, though, is it.

  41. Max Crashtappen

    1. Max Neverstappen

    2. Goinggoinggone

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