Lewis Hamilton, Formula One world champion got into an early, dangerous high-speed collision with Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix this weekend.
The collision resulted in Hamilton receiving a ten-second time penalty which dropped him down to fourth place after the pit stop. However, he was still able to overtake Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final two laps to secure his eighth British GP win, defending his title. At the onset of the race, the Mercedes driver made several attempts to pass Verstappen on the first lap. When the drivers reached Silverstone’s Copse Corner, Hamilton’s front left-wheel grazed the Red Bull driver’s back-right tire, causing Verstappen to spin off the track and crashing into the barriers.
After the race, Hamilton spoke to the press stating, “I was pretty far alongside him, but I could see he wasn’t going to back out. But then we went into the corner and we collided. Of course, that’s never the way I want to win a race or just in general to race, but these things do happen.”
The British Grand Prix judges announced that Hamilton was “predominantly at fault since Hamilton went on the corner “slightly behind and on the inside.” They also said that he was “on a line that did not reach the apex of the corner, with room available to the inside.”
