14/11/2022
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen insists that Lewis Hamilton had "zero intention" of leaving him any space as rivals lock horns yet again.
Though the stewards deemed the world champion as being responsible for the clash at the first safety car re-start, Max Verstappen is convinced they got it wrong.
As far as the stewards were concerned Verstappen attempted to pass Hamilton on the outside of turn 1 by braking very late.
However, he did not complete the pass and his excess speed compromised his entry into turn 2, at which point he made contact with the Mercedes.
While the stewards recognized that Hamilton could possibly have given a little more room at the apex of turn 2, they determined that Verstappen was
predominantly at fault, handing the Dutchman a 5s time penalty and 2 penalty points.
"I felt it, as soon as I was going next to him, that he had no intention to leave me space," Verstappen subsequently told reporters. "I thought 'OK, if you don't leave me space, are we just going to collide?'
"I thought after last year, we maybe forget about it, we can finally race you know," he added. "Because first of all, when I went side by side, I thought ok, let's have a good race here.
"But then you feel it with a driver, if he's going to leave space or not. And there was zero intention to leave me space."
Asked if he was surprised to be penalised, he admitted: "Yeh, to be honest, I was surprised. I mean, I was not upset. But if you asked me, 'would I do it again?' Absolutely!
"I was, well I can say, 85% alongside, and my intention is never to crash," he continued. "But I could feel he was just not going to leave me the space into that corner. And then yeh, we collide.
"If he would have just moved a little bit, he probably would have stayed ahead anyway. It's a shame... I want to race. I want to have a good fight, but when the other one doesn't want to work with you."
A somewhat ironic comment when you consider the Dutchman's actions later in the race... towards his own teammate.
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