The duels between Red Bull and Mercedes frequently go beyond just the track. The two teams are constantly on the lookout for the opportunity to fire shots at each other. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided in Brazil, for which Verstappen got a 5-second time penalty. The incident gave Red Bull’s simulator and development driver Rudy Van Buren a chance to take a dig at Hamilton.

Verstappen, while trying to overtake Lewis, lunged aggressively from the outside and crashed into the side of Hamilton’s W13. The move proved counterproductive, as not only did he receive a time penalty but also damaged his front wing. Rudy, however, has a different tale to tell.

Speaking on the RacingNews360 podcast, Rudy said, “Wow, what a s***** move that was! People will say I have orange glasses on, but no, not at all.” “Hamilton is squeezed on the brakes from the outside. If you watch the onboard, you can hear him accelerating in the corner give to drive his car wide,” he continued.

“Max wouldn’t have won that race without that incident. But Hamilton just has something against Max. As soon as he is overtaken in a nice way, in this case from the outside in turn one – and then you’re already a bit of a d*** in his position – then off together,” an animated Van Buren concluded.

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The race finished with Mercedes bagging not just their first win, but also their first 1-2 of the season. While Lewis Hamilton and George Russell raced each other to the finish line, Russell maintained the lead to win his career’s first F1 GP.

Christian Horner speaks on the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen incident

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, while speaking post-race, expressed his frustration with the incident. He also thought Max Verstappen’s penalty was harsh.

“I thought he’d [Verstappen] earned a bit more space than he was given,” Horner said. “Lewis could have given him a bit more to work with, because he [Verstappen] was ahead going into the left hander [Turn 1].”

“It’s unfortunate, I think it’s the only incident that Max has had this year. So unfortunately, Max was deemed at fault with the five-second penalty, which then just hurts our race even more. It was very frustrating.”

Horner believed the damage slowed Max’s lap times. He also termed it as a racing incident and the penalty was harsh.

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Did Hamilton really turn into Verstappen purposely? Was it just a racing incident? Or was Max racing too hard?