Max Verstappen Slams 'Disrespectful' And 'Dangerous' Lewis Hamilton After 180MPH Crash
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Max Verstappen has blasted Lewis Hamilton as 'disrespectful and unsportsmanlike' for celebrating his British GP win while he was in hospital.
Verstappen went into Sunday's race at Silverstone 33 points ahead in the title race.
He started in pole position but crashed out at Copse corner on the opening lap when he was clipped by Hamilton on his rear right tyre and sent into the tyre wall at 180mph.
Glad I'm ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn't do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on pic.twitter.com/iCrgyYWYkm
- Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 18, 2021
Following checks by on-site medics, Verstappen was taken to a nearby hospital where he watched a feed of the race in which Hamilton claimed victory.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko went on German TV to ask for Hamilton to be suspended.
In the end, the Brit was given a 10-second time penalty but fought back to claim victory, ironically passing leader Charles Leclerc at the same corner at which he had crashed with Verstappen.
HAMILTON AND VERSTAPPEN COLLIDE! :boom:
- Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 18, 2021
Verstappen is out of the car :scream:
Red Flag :triangular_flag_on_post:
:tv: Watch the #BritishGP live on Sky Sports F1pic.twitter.com/R80GdOuhVd
And Verstappen was quick to take to social media to voice his disapproval.
"Glad I'm OK." the Dutchman tweeted. "Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn't do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track.
"Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour but we move on."
:speaking_head:"I just feel like he doesn't need to be as aggressive as he is"
- Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 18, 2021
:speaking_head:"It's never one person's fault, it's always a balance."
Lewis Hamilton discusses his incident with Max Verstappen.#SkyF1 #BritishGP :flag_gb: pic.twitter.com/OJEYcsSahX
The two drivers have already come together twice this season and the Mercedes star, who cut the championship points gap to eight with victory, was labelled 'amateur' and 'desperate' by Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
"That's an enormous accident and it was Max's corner," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, full blame is on Hamilton for that incident, he should never have been in that position. Thank god Max has walked away unscathed."
Asked whether he felt guilty for the incident with Verstappen, Hamilton said: "That isn't the way I ever want to win a race or to race but these things happen.
:speaking_head:"For me, that's a hollow victory"
- Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 18, 2021
A furious Christian Horner spoke with @tedkravitz and provided an update on Max Verstappen.#SkyF1 #BritishGP :flag_gb: pic.twitter.com/CKtKEEuAIu
"Everyone will have a different opinion, but I don't really care what people think.
"Rarely an incident is 100 per cent someone's fault, usually it's a mixture. There are things we can both learn.
"Max is probably the most aggressive driver here, just my personal opinion.
"He does a great job, of course, but I think we have to really try and find the best balance with space and respect between one another. Then we can continue racing without colliding."
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen
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