[imagesource: AP]

Here we go again.

At the British Grand Prix in July, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were involved in a crash at the end of the first lap at Silverstone.

On that occasion, Hamilton remained in the race, went on to claim victory, and was criticised by Verstappen for his celebrations.

During yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the pair again collided, with both crashing out of the race.

Just like at Silverstone, opinion is divided on who is to blame, and the bad blood between the two drivers vying for the world championship has intensified.

Via F1, here are the basics before we see the crash:

As Hamilton exited the pits after his first stop, Verstappen was running down the main straight – having lost a lot of ground because of a slow pit stop – and they were side by side heading down to the first corner.

Verstappen hung his Red Bull around the outside after braking late – but was never fully alongside. As they went through the corner, the two collided, lifting Verstappen into the air and onto the Mercedes, with both ending up stuck in the gravel and out of the race.

Roll the tape:

Another hugely dramatic moment in the Verstappen/Hamilton title battle 💥😮#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/P4J4bN6wX2

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021

You can see the crash and a slow-motion replay here:

Max Verstappen has to sometimes use his head man.
He wasn’t gonna make that corner ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
I’ll be surprised if there are people out here who will defend this.
Costly and stupid mistake.#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tEkfNw8l7k

— The GLikeCoop 💙 (@ItsKingWanga) September 12, 2021

One more time – Hamilton really can thank the Halo (a cockpit protection device made mandatory by the FIA in 2018) for walking away from this crash:

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

Following the crash, Verstappen was quick to check on Hamilton’s condition, to make sure his rival was alright.

No, sorry, it turns out he walked off without as much as a cursory check:

I don’t wanna hear nothinggggg from Verstappen about sportsmanship ever again #f1 #Hamilton #ItalianGP #Verstappen #hamiltonverstappen pic.twitter.com/RUkvT10OT3

— adanna (@adannaox) September 12, 2021

Hamilton has said he was “surprised” that Verstappen didn’t check on his condition.

Verstappen defended his actions by saying that if Hamilton was trying to reverse out the gravel, he was okay.

He added that “in the heat of the moment it’s better to walk away so everyone calms down.”

After the race, both men gave their views:

Lewis and Max on *that* collision 🗣🗣 #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Pc6Gh0H5BH

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021

Stewards and race officials took their time, had conversations with both drivers, and finally made a ruling:

And after several hours of deliberating, it was deemed Verstappen was at fault as his pass was “attempted too late for him to have the right to racing room” – and he was handed a three-place grid penalty plus two penalty points – the first on his licence in this 12-month period.

“The Stewards heard from the driver of car 33 (Max Verstappen), the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) and team representatives, reviewed the video evidence and determined that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly to blame for the collision with Car 44 at Turn 2,” said the stewards in a statement…

While Car 44 could have steered further from the kerb to avoid the incident, the Stewards determined that his position was reasonable and therefore find that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly to blame for the incident.

Verstappen has now been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix.

I’m not going to run through what each driver said in great detail, but you can check these links if you want more.

• Verstappen furious at Hamilton: ‘This is what you get without giving space’ – here.
• Hamilton reacts to Verstappen’s grid penalty: ‘Proud of the stewards’ – here.
• ‘Hamilton tried forcing Verstappen to cut the corner in vain’, says Alonso – here.

Hamilton didn’t comment on the crash on social media, but Verstappen was forthright on Instagram:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Max Verstappen (@maxverstappen1)

In the end, Ozzie Daniel Ricciardo claimed McLaren’s first victory since 2012, and celebrated with a ‘shoey’:

SHOEY SHOEY SHOEY SHOEY SHOEY DANIEL RICCIARDO pic.twitter.com/D0bJqYvHeD

— ocea🥝 (@checottel) September 12, 2021

Things are unchanged at the very top of the driver standings, and it remains a two-horse race for the world championship:

F1 fans will be very, very keen for the Russian Grand Prix to roll around on Sunday, September 26.

[source:f1]