Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen crashed at the end of the first lap of the British Grand Prix as their rivalry finally exploded in a dramatic incident at Silverstone.
Hamilton had already attempted to overtake pole-sitter Verstappen on a number of occasions before they touched at Copse corner, with the Dutchman flying off the track and slamming into the tyre wall at around 180mph. Verstappen looked winded as he climbed out of the car and was checked over by paramedics but did not appear to be seriously hurt in the high-impact collision.
Verstappen’s team, Red Bull, immediately pointed the finger of blame towards Hamilton, who was on the inside line but behind Verstappen when he turned in.
Hamilton, for his part, claimed he had the racing line, saying Verstappen “turned in on me”. The stewards announced they would be investigating the incident, which led to a long pause as the race was red flagged before restarting in the pit lane. Hamilton was eventually given a 10 second time penalty.
But despite the penalty, the Mercedes driver hunted down Leclerc in the closing laps and passed the Ferrari to claim victory, the eighth of his career at Silverstone.
And after the race, Hamilton and Verstappen disagreed over the main culprit for the accident.