Verstappen’s response to Hamilton incident in Brazil as he faces anxious wait

Max Verstappen has responded to the controversial incident involving himself and Lewis Hamilton at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The pair nearly collided when heading towards turn four on lap 48.

With Hamilton on the outside, Verstappen failed to make the corner, forcing the seven-time world champion off the track to avoid a collision.

Mercedes, though, were in uproar when it was decided that no punishment would be taken against Verstappen.

However, while not available during or immediately after the race, the Dutchman’s on-board footage was released, of which Mercedes requested a review.

Race stewards have taken a closer look at the footage and will determine whether a punishment will be handed down to Verstappen on Friday.

The Red Bull racer gave his take on the incident from his perspective, which he deemed to be a “great battle”.

"I didn't need to look at the footage as I was driving the car, so I know exactly what happened,” Verstappen explained.

"Last time out I thought it was a great battle and I had a lot of fun out there as well, at the end of the day they won the race, fair enough, they were faster than us."

After watching the footage, Hamilton, who remained focused on the task in hand during the race, now feels as though his rival was to blame for their near collison.

“I think the reason at the time I would say [what I said] is that’s the mentality you have to take,” the 36-year-old said.

“If you sit in the car at the moment and complain it will only hold you back, so in the moment I just had to keep moving forwards and also it’s difficult to judge on something that you’ve not seen all the angles.

“I re-looked at it and I have a different viewpoint naturally now, but I’m just putting all my energy into setting up the car and making sure that I’m in the right headspace this weekend, so I’ve not really given anything to it.”

Following the world champion’s comments, Verstappen thinks the Mercedes racer took the "easy option" to blame him for the incident

“Why? Because it’s quite simple and easy to blame the younger driver. That’s the only way I can see it,” he added.

Whether his rival is penalised or not, Hamilton wants to put it behind him and maintain his focus on the final three races of the seasons as he looks to regain the lead in the driver’s championship.

“Honestly, it is not something I want to dive much more into,” he added. “I have seen the onboard footage that came out but as I said. The last race I was trying to focus on the fact we did something that was quite remarkable.

“Right now, I know the team are in discussion at this point so I am just leaving them to it. I’ve not actually really been a part of it (the appeal). Of course I’ m aware of it and am fully supportive of my team.

“I have no idea where they are going with the discussion or what could be the outcome, I haven’t given it any energy or time at all.”

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