© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton talks about his collision with Max Verstappen, a possible backstory behind it, and his hope that they can “have good races without colliding”.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix. The incident sent the Dutch driver crashing into the barrier, while Lewis was able to continue and ultimately win the race.
Afterwards the Briton was asked to describe what happened from his point of view.
“I don’t really know what good it does for me to explain,” Hamilton said at the post-race press conference.
“Obviously got a good start and I was chasing down Max similar to yesterday. Obviously I was alongside him into six but I had to concede and I got a great tow down to Turn 9.
“Yesterday I went down the left-hand side and I really regretted not going for the gap that was down the right-hand side and so I dummied him, moved to the left and then moved to the right for that gap.
“I was pretty far up alongside him but I then could see he wasn’t going to back-out and we went into the corner and then we collided.
“Of course, that’s never the way I ever want to win a race or just in general to race but these things do happen. I just hope he’s OK and look forward to many more races.”
Lewis was then asked if there was any backstory behind the accident?
“I think it’s a normal battle. I think I’ve generally… when I was younger, of course, I was probably as aggressive – maybe actually not as aggressive as Max is, but I was pretty aggressive as a youngster.
“And I think now, I’m a lot older now and I know it’s a marathon not a sprint and so I think I have a better view in how I approach my racing.
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“But we’re in a battle and I think this year he has been very aggressive and most of the times I’ve had to concede and just avoid incident with him and live to fight on later on in the race.
“As you saw yesterday, once he’s out in the clear, they’re too fast so when an opportunity comes, I’ve got to try and take it, that’s what we’re out there doing, and racing,
“And this one moment, I got a great exit out of Turn 7 and I was really happy with the dummy that I was able to go to the left and then go to the inside and get up that gap.
“Fortunately he wasn’t able to close it. But unfortunately the aggression stayed from his side and we collided. It’s unfortunate, but as Charles [Leclerc] said it’s a racing incident, these things happen.
And finally Lewis was asked if he thinks the incident will change the way they will race against each other in the future?
“I would like to think that we should generally grow and learn from these experiences. There’s never a… there’s rarely an incident that’s 100% someone’s fault.
“It’s always a mixture because there are two people – or more obviously – so I think there’s things that we can both learn.
“I would say that Max is probably one of the most aggressive drivers here – just from my personal opinion.
“He does a great job of course – but I think we have to really try to find the best balance we can on track with space and respect between one another, so that we can continue racing and have good races without colliding,”
