Lewis Hamilton has blamed Max Verstappen for the crash that occurred between the pair at the Italian Grand Prix.
The duo came together midway through the race at Turn 1, as Hamilton emerged back onto the circuit following his pit stop.
Both drivers, who are battling each other for the world championship this year, retired from the race as a result of the collision.
Speaking to Sky F1 after the grand prix, Hamilton said that he was “a little bit stiff, a bit sore in my neck” after Verstappen’s wheel hit his helmet.
“From what I remember, I was racing as hard as I could, [I] finally got past Lando and was in the lead, so they pitted me,” Hamilton said.
“[The] pitstop was obviously slow, lost around a second and a bit. I came out, I saw that Daniel came past and Max was coming.
“I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him and was obviously ahead. I was ahead going into Turn 2 and then all of a sudden he was on top of me.”
Verstappen and Hamilton had a close call earlier in the race at Turn 4 – on that occasion, Hamilton took to the escape road and ran over the kerbs.
“It’s exactly the same scenario that happened in Turn 4 where I went around the outside, was in exactly the same position, but I gave way,” Hamilton said.
“And that’s racing. He just didn’t want to give way today and he knew going into Turn 2 what was going to happen.
“He knew that he was going over the kerbs but he still did it. We’ll speak to the stewards… But I don’t really know what else to say.”
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