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Lewis Hamilton would have been left thanking the Halo safety feature on his car, after he and Max Verstappen took each other out of the Monza Grand Prix.
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Hamilton and Verstappen are in the middle of a very fierce battle to win this season's Formula One Driver's World Championship and have clashed on a couple of occasions.
Things really heated up at the British Grand Prix earlier this year, when Hamilton was accused of taking out his Dutch rival and then being disrespectful for celebrating the win, whilst Verstappen was in hospital.
On Sunday, the title race, and their rivalry, took another twist during the race in Monza, when the pair took each other out of the race on the 26th lap, just after Hamilton had left the pits.
The scenes were quite shocking for viewers as Verstappen's Red Bull landed on the back of Hamilton's Mercedes and he was only saved by the 'halo' that sits about the cockpit.
VERSTAPPEN AND HAMILTON CRASH!
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 12, 2021
THEY'RE BOTH OUT OF THE RACE!
📺 @SkySportsF1
📲 https://t.co/wJLcpqY0wk#SkyF1 | #F1 pic.twitter.com/KpJUL3alKA
Race stewards will be reviewing the Hamilton/Verstappen incident after the race 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
LAP 30/53: Safety Car out on track#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/bjITEjBUQQ
LAP 26/53
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
Hamilton and Verstappen collide at Turn 2!
They are both out of the race #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6uuh7NhfZ4
LAP 26/53
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
Hamilton was returning to the track after pitting before the pair came together#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/iSL9RENEwR
incredible slow-motion footage
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) September 12, 2021
the Halo doing its job once again 🙏
Thank you Halo 🙏 pic.twitter.com/EYGoVQqxQ2
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) September 12, 2021
Another win for the Halo 🙏 #ItalianGP #WTF1 pic.twitter.com/mrOnr7D0lL
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) September 12, 2021
This angle of the Hamilton-Verstappen crash is absolutely nuts. Thank god for the halo, Hamilton’s head coulda been taken off pic.twitter.com/YJEJACRNTl
— Joe (@JoeRiveraSN) September 12, 2021
Most importantly - very happy to see @LewisHamilton get out of the car ok. The strength of the Mercedes roll hoop and the halo saved him there 🙏🏽🙏🏽 https://t.co/6E1YA7StTz
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) September 12, 2021
Verstappen went into the race on pole position, after Saturday's sprint race saw Hamilton mess up from second place to finish down in fifth.
However it was McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo who led at the first corner, managing to get a better start than the title leader, and led throughout.
Hamilton remained in fourth, with teammate Valtteri Bottas' being relegated to the back of the grid due to an engine change.
The seven time world champion was on harder tyres than the rest so stayed out longer and found himself in the lead as everyone started pitting.
LAP 23/53
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021
Drama!
Verstappen comes into the pits and it's a slow stop - 11.1 seconds - and he returns to the track in 10th place #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/S5yy7V7Tvg
Red Bull's uncharacteristically long pit stop for Verstappen meant that Hamilton would be close to his rival when his stop was done.
His team also took too long on his stop, though nowhere near as long as his rival, and when he was released onto the track Verstappen was closer than he and the team would have wanted.
The battle for the win didn't last as long as either man would have been expecting as the pair took each other out on the first corner of the lap.
It means the gap remains just five points between them in the title race, with just eight races of the season remaining.
Featured Image Credit: F1
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton