Jean Alesi has slammed Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for their crash at Monza, saying they crossed the line in Italy.
The title rivalry between Hamilton and Verstappen has been the best one in a long time. Every race is entertaining, and making predictions is basically a task without a purpose. The two driver have raced each other to the limit.
However, there have been a few times they have outright barged into each other and caused controversy. One such instance was their crash in Monza, which saw both drivers take each other out.
The former F1 racer revealed that he is a massive fan of this season’s title race. He stated that such a battle is good for the sport.
However, Alesi slammed Hamilton and Verstappen for their crash at Monza, saying that they crossed the line on that day.
“We needed such a good challenge: otherwise we would have ended the era of these cars only with a domination of Mercedes and Lewis,” Alesi said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“This year, however, it’s great to have every race and every qualifying so uncertain. The only thing I didn’t like was Monza, because it’s fine to fight, but they went too far there, both of them, and I don’t want to blame one or the other.
“I hope they continue to fight hard, but in a fair way, and that it lasts until the end, until the last race.”
Change in mindset
Alesi also highlighted a change in attitude from Verstappen, who is usually criticised for his aggressiveness while racing.
“Even in the last GP in Turkey, you could see that Verstappen has changed his attitude,” he continued.
“He didn’t take risks, but I’m not surprised, he’s starting to use his experience and he knows he mustn’t fall into the traps of Mercedes’ strategy.
“And they’ll all be races to the death – Hamilton was used to being able to draw breath, now he knows that neither he nor Max will be able to do so.
“And so grip could become an unknown: it would be a shame if one were to win because of the other’s retirement. I’d like to see a sprint all the way to Abu Dhabi,” he concluded.
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