Lewis Hamilton had a frightful day at the Italian GP. The driver had a poor start, followed by a difficult race which came to an untimely end. He collided with his championship rival in what could have been a fatal incident. The Halo came to the rescue, as Hamilton walked away seemingly okay to the garage.

However, as the race concluded, the aftereffects of the collision have set in. The driver gave Sky Sports a quick update on his health after the incident. “I am sore on my neck to be honest because it landed on my head but I will be okay.”

The rear wheel of the Red Bull car was seen hitting Hamilton’s head, and that could not have been a light tap.

Hamilton went on to explain the incident from his point of view. “From what I remember, I was racing as hard as I could, I finally got past Lando and was in the lead.” The driver explains that after the slow pitstop, the team told him he was in the lead.

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As he approached the exit, Lewis saw Verstappen approaching. According to Hamilton, “I made sure I left a car’s width. I was ahead going into turn two and all of a sudden he was on top of me.”

While there will be a lot more of the rivals assigning the blame, the team principals let the incident go as a racing incident.

Repetition of sorts for Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton had already made contact with Verstappen in the first lap of the race. A poor start from Hamilton saw him fight hard to make up position from the measly P4. However, holding tight to his position, Verstappen was unwilling to let go. As a result, Hamilton went off the tracks.

It disappointed Hamilton having to continuously give way to Verstappen. “It was exactly the same scenario as turn four where I went around the outside, I was in exactly the same position and I gave way.”

The reigning champion added, “That is racing. He just didn’t want to give way today, and he knew going into [turn] two what was going to happen. He knew he was going over the kerb but still did it. I don’t really know what else to say.”

Five points separate the protagonists, with Verstappen in the lead; the constructor’s board narrates a different story. The battle is as tough as ever with no room for error. With a race like today, both drivers had everything to lose, and they did.

Nonetheless, this only means one thing: the Russian GP will be an intense one.

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