Max Verstappen suffers massive crash at British Grand Prix after coming together with title rival Lewis Hamilton
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ByEurosport
Updated 18/07/2021 at 15:30 GMT
Max Verstappen was on pole at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday and got off the line ahead of his title rival Lewis Hamilton. The pair jockeyed for position through the first lap and they came together at Copse, with the Red Bull driver losing a wheel and send spinning into the tyre barriers
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 18: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W12 and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing RB16B Honda lead the field into turn one at the start during
Image credit: Getty Images
There was high drama at the start of the British Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen suffered a high-speed crash after a coming together with title rival Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen was on pole at Silverstone and got off the line ahead of his rival, but Hamilton was all over the rear end of the Red Bull through the first few corners.
The pair jostled for the lead and Hamilton got ahead at one stage, only for the Dutchman to break late and retake the advantage.
Hamilton got an excellent exit from Woodcote, which enabled him to get on the throttle early and he came alongside Verstappen on the inside.
Verstappen clearly felt he had the racing line going into Copse and they touched at high speed, which resulted in the Red Bull losing its right rear wheel and spinning into the tyre barriers.
The race was immediately red flagged to allow the tyre barrier to be repaired, while it was positive that Verstappen was able to walk away from the huge impact.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner was immediately onto the stewards, describing Hamilton's move as "completely out of order" and "dirty driving."
“Thank God he walked away, that is the biggest result we will have today,” Red Bull boss Horner said on Sky Sports. “He is in the medical centre and is doing a 30-minute precautionary check. It’s so far, so good.”
Following an investigation, Hamilton was handed down a 10-second time penalty - meaning he will need to come into the pits and be motionless for 10 seconds before any work can be done on his car.
The penalty will hugely compromise Hamilton's chances of victory, meaning he could struggle to eat into Verstappen 33-point lead at the top of the drivers’ standings.
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