Formula 1 – Italian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, a crash that will make a milestone

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It is an image that will be remembered during this Italian Grand Prix, once again completely crazy, Sunday September 12, and won by Daniel Ricciardo. After a pit stop, Lewis Hamilton came out just ahead of Max Verstappen on lap 26, but the two cars collided in the first chicane. The Dutchman’s car then passed above that of the Briton, the halo surely saving the life of the Mercedes driver.

Both pilots then retired. The single-seaters, nested like Lego, being unfit to set off again. This is Lewis Hamilton’s first retirement since the Austrian Grand Prix in 2018.

Second after being surprised at the start by Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen tried to overtake the Australian by going to the pit one lap after the McLaren driver. But Red Bull totally missed it and the stoppage lasted 11 seconds, demoting Verstappen not far from Lewis Hamilton, his number one nemesis in the quest for the world title.

And the improbable happened. After a pit stop by the Briton, also missed, the two pilots found themselves neck and neck at the exit of Hamilton’s pit. If the Mercedes driver passed just in front, the Dutchman Verstappen, in his wake, wanted to take advantage of his new tires to overtake his rival during the first chicane.

But the two cars stuck, and that of the Red Bull driver ended on the Mercedes, reminding us how necessary the usefulness of the protective halo is since the wheels came to touch Hamilton’s helmet. Without it, the outcome could have been much more dramatic.

Forced to give up, the two pilots got out of their car without saying a word. An incident which arranges the Dutchman on an accounting plan since he does not lose any point on his competitor and keeps his lead of 5 points. “I was in front of the turn and it ended like that. I’m open to discussion but that won’t change anything. He won’t change his approach,” Lewis Hamilton said after the race, visibly tired of the Dutchman’s behavior.

The Red Bull driver also blamed his rival: “He kept pushing me to the left. It wasn’t necessary. We could have kept fighting until the next corner. I can handle my emotions. I think now is not the right time to go. talk. We’ll see what happens later. ” Suffice to say that the tension between the two pilots is unlikely to drop anytime soon.

After consultation, the Dutchman was logically designated as the main person responsible for the hanging by the committee. His sanction is rather lenient in view of the images since “Mad Max” received three penalty places on the grid for the next Grand Prix, scheduled in Russia on September 26th.

The report decreed that “Verstappen’s maneuver was attempted too late for him to have ‘the right to race space.’ While Hamilton could have moved further away from the curb, the marshals determined that his position was reasonable and therefore that Verstappen was the main culprit. “


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