Lewis Hamilton stands by his ‘f****** crazy’ comment aimed at Max Verstappen at Saudi GP

Lewis Hamilton goes undercover to inspire school children

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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton says he stands by his comments after colliding with Max Verstappen during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but admits some things are said in the heat of the moment. The two title protagonists came to blows again during the race as Hamilton accused Verstappen of “brake testing” him following the Dutchman being ordered by the FIA to hand the lead back to the Briton.

The pair collided on lap 37 after Verstappen had been instructed to hand the lead back to Hamilton after race director Michael Masi warned he could be penalised for gaining an advantage by going off the track.

Verstappen then slowed to allow the Briton past, but a seemingly unaware Hamilton was left baffled after the Dutchman braked suddenly, before accelerating into the corner as the pair collided.

Hamilton was heard saying “this guy is f****** crazy man,” as soon after Verstappen did hand the lead back, before immediately overtaking again and picking up a five-second time penalty for an earlier incident. 

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Hamilton eventually won the race, with both drivers being summoned to the stewards for the incident as Verstappen crossed the line in second.

When asked afterwards his thoughts on the incident, and his comments aimed at his main title rival, Hamilton said: “I definitely feel that there were scenarios where that was the case.

“This is not the first time that I’ve had to avoid collision and yeah, that’s how I felt at the moment.

“But you know, sometimes you say things in the heat of the moment and you go back and re-watch things and then you maybe feel differently but in the moment that’s how it felt.

“But I really just tried to recompose myself and chase down and keep fighting.”

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Meanwhile, Verstappen, who is now level on points with Hamilton heading into the final race of the season, was blunt with his response.

He said: “I mean, like I said, this emotion is running high at the time. So it’s what it is.”

Hamilton says he was left baffled by the incident, which is now being looked at by the stewards.

Speaking after the race he said: “I didn’t quite understand why he suddenly hit the brakes quite heavily and then I run into the back of him.

“And then he moved on, so I didn’t understand exactly what was going on.

“And I got a message afterwards that he was going to let us pass, so it was a bit confusing.” 

Meanwhile, Verstappen added: “I slowed down! I wanted to let him by. I’m on the right, he didn’t want to overtake, and then we touched. Yeah. I don’t really understand what happened there.”

Both drivers are now equal on points on 369.5 heading into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

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