Lewis Hamilton handed "soft" punishment for Max Verstappen crash at British GP
Lewis Hamilton has been hit with a 10-second penalty for his role in Max Verstappen's early exit at the British Grand Prix.
The two F1 rivals were fighting tooth and nail during the opening lap of the Silverstone race.
And disaster struck when wheels touched, and Verstappen's Red Bull was sent veering wildly off the track and into the barriers.
The British race was suspended for 30 minutes before a standing start got the action back underway, with Charles Leclerc at the front of the grid ahead of Hamilton.
Soon after the action restarted, the Mercedes world champion was informed of a 10-second penalty.
Reacting to the news, Channel 4's Formula One commentators initially branded the penalty "soft" after Verstappen's race was ended in the early stages.
Formula One fans were split on the incident, with Verstappen and Hamilton both getting the blame on social media.
But the latter initially insisted he was the injured party and not to blame for the collision.
"I was ahead going in there," said Hamilton over the team radio.
Max Verstappen crashes after collision with Lewis Hamilton at British Grand Prix
"I was fully inside, it was my line, and he turned in on me."
However, Red Bull chief Christian Horner was fuming with Hamilton and his driving before the punishment was unveiled.
"Look, that corner. He was never anywhere near alongside," he said.
"Any driver who has ever driven this circuit knows you do not stick a wheel up the inside of Copose. It was an enormous accident.
"That was 100 per cent Max's corner. Thank God he's walked away unscathed. I hope you're going to deal with it appropriately."
Verstappen thankfully walked away from the horror crash unscathed.
But his Red Bull was completely destroyed after hitting the barriers at 180 MPH.
And Verstappen won't be too happy that his world championship lead is likely to take a hit this weekend.
Hamilton, meanwhile, will be hoping he can capitalise despite his penalty.
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