“It Was the Other Guy’s Fault”: Debates Spark On & Off the Track as Nemeses Max Verstappen & Lewis Hamilton Inevitably Clash at Interlagos

It’s all kicked off at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix! We’ve already had a Safety Car and a bunch of collisions. But if you weren’t around a calendar, the Safety Car restart would’ve fooled you into believing it was 2021.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have come together once again! Last year, at Interlagos they gave us one of the best wheel-to-wheel action that F1 had ever seen. That being said, this year, they have not always been near each other on track.

Irrespective, when Hamilton and Verstappen battle, you’ve got to expect sparks to fly. This time, at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, after the Safety Car restart, Verstappen slid out of Hamilton‘s slipstream into turn 1. However, while navigating through the Senna ‘S’, side-by-side, they made contact.

Fans react as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collide at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix

Fans quickly took to Twitter to share their reactions. It has been a season where the two have seldom seen each other on track. That being said, as soon as the two came together, there was an inkling that the two would come together. And they did!

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Let’s take a look at just a few fan reactions to the epic tangle between the two World Champions.

We’ve heard the fans, but what do Verstappen and Hamilton have had to say about the incident? Well, for starters, Verstappen believes he wasn’t given any space. He came onto the team radio and said, “He left me no space, I’ve got damage.”

Hamilton wasn’t in the mood to assume responsibility, too.

In the aftermath of the incident, Verstappen was handed a 5-second time penalty from the Stewards. As it is in F1, the fans had differing opinions. Well, we have Verstappen fans and Hamilton fans on Twitter, don’t we?

Irrespective though, the contact between the two World Champions has sent the F1 Twittersphere into a frenzy. Fans have come in swarms to Twitter to share their reactions.

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Both Hamilton and Verstappen will be able to see different angles to the crash after the race. However, in hindsight, who was at fault? Did Verstappen deserve the 5-second time penalty? Or was it just a racing incident?