“I Was in the Right” – Lewis Hamilton Revisits the Controversial Silverstone Incident Involving Max Verstappen

The 2021 Formula 1 season has undeniably been a season of extremes – intense races, crashes, controversies, and most importantly, title rivalry. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have stood firm under the limelight from the very beginning of the season and are still nailed to the same spot as we head towards the final showdown.

And why wouldn’t they be? Both the title contenders have offered an essence that had been missing over the past few years in F1. The list of off-track and on-track drama the duo triggered is certainly huge, but the incident that stands tall in this never-ending list is Silverstone.

Formula One F1 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain – July 18, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen during the race REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

Verstappen and Hamilton came together around the deadly Copse corner. And all it needed was a mild tap from Hamilton for the Dutchman to endure a 51G impact crash. Of course, what followed were accusations and protests from either of the parties.

The talks did settle down for a brief amount of time, but Hamilton has managed to revive the topic again. The 7-time world champion continued to stand his ground in his incident with Verstappen at the British GP.

What did Lewis Hamilton say?

As reported by Motorsport, Hamilton pointed out that he had the upper hand as he was around the inside of Copse and was almost wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen. Hence, he felt that there was almost no reason for him to back out as the odds were stacked against his rival.

“If you’re on the outside of a car, backing out is the sensible option pretty much all the time, in order to see the end of the race,” he said. “If you’re on the inside, there are scenarios where I truly believe I was in the right. I’m almost wheel to wheel with the car.

Formula One F1 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain – July 18, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen before the race Pool via REUTERS/Lars Baron

“At Silverstone, for example, go and look at the footage: My front wheel was alongside his front wheel. So, it wasn’t like my wheel was next to his rear wheel going in.”

Overall, the heat between Hamilton and Verstappen is still very much persistent, with the duo almost repeating the Silverstone 2021 incident at Interlagos a couple of weekends back. What would’ve happened had Hamilton chosen against running off the track? How ugly would it have ended?

Watch Story: Lewis Hamilton: Ranking His F1 World Titles From 2008 to 2020

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