“When You Have the Success and Numbers…”: Nonchalant Lewis Hamilton Responds to Aggressive Max Verstappen Deja Vu at Brazilian GP

The Interlagos circuit definitely has something in it that forces the driver to push themselves. For the entire year, Max Verstappen remained far from the reach of Lewis Hamilton. But yesterday, last year’s title rivals collided with each other when both of them were pushing for the podiums. In the Sao Paulo post-race press conference, the seven times world champion talked about the collision and said ‘it’s not happening for the first time.’

The Brazilian circuit also saw an early collision before Hamilton’s and the Dutchman’s. There was a massive contact between Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo, which brought in the safety car.

But the real drama began when the race started again and on lap 6 the two arch-rivals made a contact that led Verstappen to leave the track and forced him to take a pit stop. Although the Mercedes car remained unaffected and continued its stint. After the collision, Max Verstappen was handed over a 5s penalty, but the two-time champion didn’t receive it well and ranted over the radio’ he left me no space’.

When asked in the post-race press conference, ” Do you think that he has a particular problem with you and if he does that concern you from a safety perspective moving forward?”

Lewis Hamilton replied, “I’m not concerned… I think it’s natural when you have the success and the numbers on your chest, that you become a bit of a target. But it’s okay. It’s nothing that I have not dealt with before”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton Makes Brutal Back-Handed Remark Against Max Verstappen Leaving F1 Fans Wide-Eyed

The collision pushed the Dutchman at the back of the grid. Furthermore, the Red Bull driver accused Hamilton that he wasn’t willing to race.

Max Verstappen believes Lewis Hamilton wasn’t willing to race

The contact that Hamilton made with Verstappen cost the Dutchman much more than the British driver. Verstappen’s collision made him go to the pit stop and get a new front wing. Moreover, he was dropped back to the grid at P17 but later recovered to finish at six.

The Dutchman’s failed attempt to overtake Hamilton has made him noted down in the books of stewards, where it was found that Verstappen was at fault and the steward handed him a five-second time penalty.

The two-time champion raised questions over the approach of Hamilton and also accused him of not wanting to race. He said, “To be honest, I went around the outside, and I immediately felt he was not going to leave space. I just went for it, he didn’t leave me space, so I knew we were going to get together.”

Adding further, he said, “It cost him the race win, for me it gave me five seconds. It wouldn’t have mattered anything for my race, because we were just way too slow. But it’s just a shame, I thought we could race quite well together, but clearly the intention was not there to race.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Max Verstappen Wittily Responds to Backlash for 2021 Championship Win

The Silver Arrows have got their maiden victory this season, but the fight for P2 in the WCC won’t be easy. Who do you think was at fault yesterday, Hamilton or the Dutchman?