Verstappen doesn’t understand why he crashes so often with Hamilton. It’s just different with him, he says

In the 2021 season, it was a rivalry like the old days of Formula 1. Indeed, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had many battles in the battle for first place, several of which ended in contact or outright accidents. However, the Dutch driver said in a recent interview that he didn’t understand why it happened so often.

The 2021 Formula One season was indeed grandiose and offered a spectacular battle for the title between Verstappen and Hamilton. It lasted not only until the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, which will forever be associated with great controversy, but right up to the last few corners of the final lap.

The rivalry between Verstappen and Hamilton and their duels were reminiscent of the iconic battles between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen or Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

These two Red Bull and Mercedes drivers have clashed five times since the start of the 2021 season, including at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, one of the last races of the 2021 season.

Of course, most of the collisions between the two took place in that 2021 year, as Mercedes was not involved in the title battle last year due to a very poor first half of the season. At the end of it, however, the German team was coming back in terms of performance and it was very evident, for example, in Brazil.

It was here that George Russell scored his first career victory, Hamilton finished second and Mercedes celebrated the double. However, it was at the Interlagos circuit that the seven-time and two-time champion clashed.

Although it had been almost a year since their last clash on a race track, the tension between them was palpable.

Verstappen’s statement

“I have to be careful what I say, but I didn’t collide with anyone I fought last year – and they were tough and aggressive fights. But with Lewis it’s different and I honestly don’t get it,” Verstappen explained in an interview with Motorsport.

“We didn’t fight much last year, but we still had a collision in Brazil – but it wasn’t my intention. I was guilty of it, but it didn’t seem fair. If it had been judged as a racing incident, I could have lived with it,” he said of the Brazilian Grand Prix accident.

“I don’t feel like I raced against Lewis any differently than I did against anyone else. George and I had an incredible battle the day before. It was a lot of fun and I was trying to do the same thing in the main race – that kind of battle. Unfortunately, Lewis and I couldn’t do it,” he added.

But in the end, Verstappen noted that he respects Hamilton for what he has done in Formula 1. Still, he said he doesn’t understand why they can’t race together like they do with other drivers.

Sources