Max Verstappen stated he wouldn’t hesitate to collide with Lewis Hamilton once more after the rivals crashed at Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Verstappen tangled following a security automotive re-start on the seventh lap in Interlagos as they duelled for second place via the Senna Esses.
Hamilton recovered to complete runner-up – behind team-mate George Russell who took his maiden win – whereas Verstappen, who was pressured to cease for repairs in his Red Bull, completed sixth.
The double world champion was deemed at fault for the collision by the stewards and hit with a five-second penalty.
After the race, Hamilton, who was concerned in a variety of altercations with Verstappen throughout final season’s poisonous title battle, stated: “What can I say? You know how it is with Max.”
Verstappen responded: “I was not upset by the penalty, but if you ask me would I do it again? Absolutely.
“I went spherical the surface in flip one, and I simply felt it as quickly as I used to be going subsequent to him that he had no intention to go away me area, and I used to be like, ‘Okay if you’re not going to go away me area then we are going to simply collide’.
“I thought after last year, we could forget about it and finally race. But you feel it with a driver – if he is going to leave you space or not – and there was zero intention to leave me space.”
Following an investigation, Formula One’s governing physique, the FIA, stated: “The stewards determined that Verstappen attempted to pass Hamilton on the outside of turn one by braking very late.
“He didn’t full the go in flip one and his extra pace compromised his entry into flip two, at which level he made contact with Hamilton.
“While the stewards recognise that Hamilton could possibly have given a little more room at the apex of turn two, the stewards determined that Verstappen was predominantly at fault.”
