Reuters
Formula One F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 10, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after qualifying in second position for the sprint qualifying Pool via REUTERS/Lars Baron
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 10, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after qualifying in second position for the sprint qualifying Pool via REUTERS/Lars Baron
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen crashed at Turn 1 at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend. Both drivers were fighting for P3 on the grid when the Red Bull driver made a dart down the outer side of Hamilton.
The move sent Verstappen up into the air, landing the top of Hamilton’s Mercedes. But many Dutch drivers have come forward blamed the 7-time world champion for not leaving enough space for Max.
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Tom Coronel criticizes Lewis Hamilton for turning on Verstappen
As reported by ExpressUK, Dutch drivers Nicky Catsburg and Tom Coronel have both put the blame on Hamilton for the Monza accident. Catsburg argued if the rivers should be allowed to push each other out of the road in a wheel-to-wheel battle.
“You do that because you can get away with it. I actually think we shouldn’t get away with it. What Lewis did to Max at Monza, that really shouldn’t be allowed. He just doesn’t give him any space.” said Catsburg.
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Formula One F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 12, 2021, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after crashing out of the race with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Fellow Dutch racer Tom Coronel agreed with Catsburg. But he was more harsh and direct in his criticism of the Mercedes driver.
“The tactic is, of course, if you see Max in your mirrors and next to you, then you better get a new pair of underpants. After all, it’s very simple–you get eaten up. Then you’ve just lost him,” said Coronel.
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Both of them need to leave space for each other: Toto Wolff
Mercedes Team Principal had previously called the incident a tactical foul from Verstappen’s side. But he mentioned that both title rivals need to give each other space for hard racing and avoid accidents.
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 12, 2021, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after crashing out of the race with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
“We don’t want to have situations in the future where the only way of stopping the other one scoring is just by taking them out. So both of them need to leave space for each other, race each other hard but avoid accidents because it was good fun until now,” said Wolff.
“We have seen a halo that saved Lewis’ life and Max had this heavy impact at Silverstone. We don’t want to come to the situation to intervene when somebody gets really hurt,” concluded Wolff.
The stewards found Verstappen was more to blame in the crash than Hamilton. For his move, the stewards gave Max three place-grid penalties for the Russian Grand Prix.
Who is more to blame Hamilton or Verstappen? Let us know.
