Max Verstappen’s response to crash with F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone

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Max Verstappen was left “incredibly frustrated” after colliding with Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix, according to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. With seven rounds of the 2021 F1 season to go, Verstappen trails the seven-time world champion by just two points in the standings, after what has been a tempestuous title race between the pair thus far.

Twice the pair have clashed on the track, first at Silverstone in July with race stewards deeming Hamilton responsible. However, while Verstappen was forced out of the race and later went to hospital as a precaution, Hamilton recovered from a 10-second penalty to win the race and put himself back in title contention.

Then in Monza last month, the two collided again but this time it was the Dutch driver at fault, according to race stewards. He was duly given a three-place grid penalty at the Russian Grand Prix.

Speaking to Channel 4 Horner, team principal at Red Bull Racing since 2005, said it was Verstappen’s reaction to the Silverstone setback which underlined his mental strength.

“Max was incredibly frustrated about the collision with Lewis in England and the result. He had worked very hard that weekend, had already won the sprint race and had a good chance of winning the GP,” said Horner.

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“Instead – contact with Hamilton, 51g crash, hospital, opponent victory, but on Monday he said to me, ‘If I could do the race again, I would win it.’ And then he left that behind.”

And Horner continued his praise of the 24-year-old, lauding his honesty and desire to succeed.

”In all these years I’ve never seen a driver as straightforward as Max. He’s open and honest about everything and he doesn’t care what the outside world thinks,” he continued.

“If you spend more time with him and get to know him better, you will find out that he is a super nice guy with a huge passion for the sport. He’s extremely hungry for success and motivated in every fibre to be perfect. I don’t know any other driver with such internal motivation.”

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Hamilton, 36, has since told ESPN that he contacted Verstappen to clear the air after the British Grand Prix.

“I called him after Silverstone, but, again, I don’t mean to be patronising, but I am much older. I’m much older and it was important for me to call and to be able to break the ice,” he said.

Verstappen joined Red Bull midway through the 2016 season and made an immediate impact, triumphing at the Spanish Grand Prix to become the youngest winner of a Grand Prix, aged 18 years and 228 days.

He finished third in the 2020 Championship but now has the real chance of a maiden title this season following a superb drive in Russia.

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Despite losing his slender Championship lead to Hamilton, Verstappen overcame the odds to finish second after starting at the back of a grid following a fourth engine change of the season.

It leaves the title race on a knife-edge ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix this Sunday, October 10, a venue Hamilton won at in 2020.

Following that, the next F1 stop is the United States Grand Prix a fortnight later.

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