The clash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on lap 1 of the British Grand Prix caused a spur of debate over who was in the wrong. Of course, considering the former received a penalty, one would assume the Briton was the reason behind this massive debacle.

However, Mercedes are not accepting the blame and rather pointed their finger at Verstappen’s aggression. The Dutchman had been keen on shutting the door on Hamilton over several occasions this season.

One of them being at Imola, when Verstappen forced his rival to drive over the sausage kerbs, potentially damaging the Mercedes’ floor.

Hence, Mercedes’ Andrew Shovlin reckoned that a collision of this intensity was always imminent. He knew that Hamilton will not be happy being the nicer guy in the battle and was always going to come back at the Dutchman at one point in the season.

What did the Mercedes F1 engineer say?

As reported by Motorsport, Shovlin reckoned that Verstappen’s aggression meant such accidents were always inevitable.

“If you look at the sprint race, [and] if you look at the opening lap of the main race, Lewis was constantly having to back out of it to avoid a collision,” he said.

“He was able to put his car into a position where he could stand his ground. Max drives aggressively. And it’s inevitable that one day, we’re going to get an accident.

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“But we were pleased with the job Lewis did. And slightly disappointed to get the penalty. But, just relieved we could still win the race,” the Briton added.

Another Lewis Hamilton – Max Verstappen duel on cards at Hungaroring?

Verstappen portrayed a matured version of himself throughout this season so far, having stayed out of trouble. However, there is a constant fear that the Silverstone incident may have triggered the arrival of an older and much more aggressive version of Verstappen.

The Dutchman was absolutely fuming, and reaction through social media said it all. However, Hamilton wasn’t keen on nourishing this uglier side of the rivalry. Hence, he claimed he was happy to have a talk with his rival before the start of Hungarian GP.

So, with entirely two different perspectives and opinions to the crash at Silverstone, will the title rivals find a middle ground and share the blame amongst each other? Or will the duo continue to aggravate this rivalry, potentially causing more such intense on-track scenes in the near future?

Watch Story: Lewis Hamilton’s Biggest F1 Crashes