Lewis Hamilton has asserted that Max Verstappen will hold a grudge over the collision that he perceived to be a “racing incident” in Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Verstappen experienced their latest on-track clash at the Hungaroring as the Dutchman attempted an ambitious lunge on his rival into Turn 1 on Lap 63.
Verstappen’s preceding laps had comprised tense discussions with his race engineer over the strategic choices which had seen him slip behind Hamilton’s Mercedes.
The Red Bull driver had failed with several overtaking moves when he made the dive that saw him end up airborne as his rear-left wheel touched Hamilton’s front right.
Hamilton was able to continue without damage to his car and took a third podium this season, while Verstappen lost a place to Charles Leclerc and trailed home fifth.
But while Verstappen claimed the Briton moving under braking caused the incident, Hamilton and the FIA stewards agreed that the touch did not warrant more action.
“I think, I mean, from what I can remember, I obviously, we passed a backmarker,” Hamilton recalled.
“I got to the braking zone and then Max appeared to overtake the car behind me, so I moved over to defend.
“I left enough room in the inside, but Max locked up and he was going a different trajectory to me. I was going towards around the corner and he came shooting across.
“It felt like a racing incident and it’s easy to make mistakes like that. I don’t feel there should be any hostility, but of course, from his side, there always will be.”
Mercedes came into the weekend angling to make it three consecutive victories amid a weekend at Silverstone where Hamilton ended his win drought on pure merit.
But with the W15 not a match to McLaren or Red Bull in Budapest, Hamilton has admitted that Mercedes remains vulnerable when hotter temperatures are prevalent.
Asked whether he expected to be battling Verstappen prior to the race, Hamilton responded: “No, I think out of pure pace, we weren’t.
“Unfortunately, we’re still not in hot conditions, particularly, so you saw in Austria and here, we’re not able to keep up with these guys.
“But in the stint one, I was really surprised to see that I was able to hold on to Max and I wasn’t even having to push too hard to stay around a second behind him.
“So I thought at that point that maybe I was in for a chance of at least fighting for that place, but then in the second stint, it was a bit of a disaster.
“It didn’t feel good and the true pace of the car started to show, I think, on those tyres.
“But we obviously got the undercut and track position is clearly key on this track. And I think that really ultimately made the difference.”
Nevertheless, the seven-time F1 champion was delighted to continue his recent upwards momentum to become the first-ever F1 driver to achieve 200 podiums.
“I think it was a tough race today and definitely didn’t think I would be having 200 podiums, but what have I done, 347 races? So not too bad a score,” he quipped.
“But I couldn’t have done it without all those great people that I’ve worked with in both these teams [McLaren and Mercedes].”
