The seven-time world champion and his Red Bull rival were locked in the fight for the lead during the opening lap of the British GP.
However, down at the Copse corner, Lewis Hamilton was able to get a run on Max Verstappen as he darted for the inside and then pulled alongside the Dutchman.
Verstappen still held his ground around the outside and Hamilton’s left front tagged the Red Bull’s right rear.
As a result, Verstappen was sent into the barriers at a massively high speed and had an almost 51G impact.
Thus, the Red Bull driver was out of the race and taken to the hospital for precautionary checks.
Hamilton claims to have done nothing wrong
Hamilton was awarded a 10-second time penalty but that did not stop him from winning the race.
The Brit went on to claim that he had done nothing wrong.
“I’ve been giving my all this past week,” Hamilton stated. “I’ve been in the factory just giving absolutely everything.
“I’ve been trying to uncover performance for the 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.
“Of course, I always try to be measured in how I approach things, particularly with battling with Max. You know he’s very aggressive. And then today, I mean I was fully alongside him, and he didn’t leave me space.
“But regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I’ll take it on the chin and I just kept working. I was like ‘I’m not going to let anything get in the way’.”
Red Bull want strict action
Even though Hamilton claims that he has done nothing wrong, Red Bull demanded from the FIA that strict action be taken against him.
Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko talked about how the incident was not an accident but something more sinister.
“If a competitor massively touches our rear wheel with his front wheel, then that’s no longer a racing accident in the fastest corner of the course. That is negligent to dangerous behaviour,” he said.
He also added that Hamilton should receive a more serious punishment including a race ban.
“You can’t do that with the normal sporting code,” added Marko. “I don’t know what the maximum penalty would be, but such dangerous and reckless behaviour should be punished with a suspension or something.”
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Itβs time Horner, marko and max stopped acting like spoilt brats and realised itβs called racing for a reason. Come on lewis