F1

LEWIS HAMILTON is considering holding clear-the-air talks with Max Verstappen as F1’s governing body promised to re-examine their latest smash.Hamilton, who is currently in New York, said he was lucky to be alive after they collided at the Italian GP, with the wheel of Verstappen’s Red Bull striking his crash helmet.
Hamilton may try and hash things out with VerstappenCredit: AFP
The pair had a near-fatal clash at the Italian GPCredit: AFP
Hamilton was spared serious injury thanks to the halo cockpit protection system in what was the second time they have clashed in five races.
When quizzed if he would be speaking to the Dutchman, who also lives in Monaco – the same as the seven-times world champion, Hamilton said: “I need to have a think.
“This will continue until we learn from our scenarios on track and I don’t have a history of these incidents, so ultimately when you get away with things like that it is easy to continue to do it.
“All of us drivers are on the edge, and when we have the inside line, every single driver past and present, will try to hold on to his position.
“Of course, when you are wheel-to-wheel going into a corner and the car is still alongside you, eventually you have to concede and give extra space.
“When the car is not ahead of you, there is a known rule that the driver who is ahead, it’s his corner.

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“Eventually a driver has to concede. I definitely do think we need to be looking into this and making sure the right decisions are being made.
“No one wants to see anyone get injured and if we can put some better protocols in, we can avoid this kind of stuff in the future.”
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said after the race in Monza that Red Bull chiefs Christian Horner and Helmut Marko “knew Max was wrong.”
In words that will raise eyebrows in Red Bull’s Milton Keynes’ HQ, Shovlin said: “Max would never have made it into that corner, but it seems he always prefers to force an incident rather than relinquish his position in relation to Lewis.
“It’s a relief that Lewis was protected by the halo, otherwise it could have been worse.
“You see Helmut and Christian weren’t trying to blame Lewis. It kind of feels like they know Max was wrong as they will try at every opportunity to point out Lewis as the culprit.
“We believe that Lewis did nothing wrong and that Max was mostly the one who made the mistake.”
COMING TO BLOWS AGAIN
Their smash in Italy came after they also collided at speed at Silverstone, which resulted in Verstappen being sent to hospital.
F1 chief Ross Brawn says he hopes the two title contenders iron-out their differences before their rivalry again comes to blows on track.
However, Brawn does not expect either of them to back down in any of the remaining eight races of this thrilling season.
He said: “I don’t think either will back off at either time for the rest of the year but I hope the championship is won on the track not in the barriers or the stewards room.
“It’s clear both drivers could have avoided it. Ultimately I think it’s another consequence of two guys going head-to-head and not wanting to give an inch.
“It’s a shame they ended up in the gravel because it could have shaped up to be a great race — and we were deprived of that.
“I’m interested to see what impact this has on their ongoing battle for the title. We have lived through Silverstone which was a major and controversial incident.
“Personally, I wouldn’t say it has changed the dynamic. You’ve got two cockerels in the farmyard at the moment and we are seeing the consequence of it.”
Meanwhile, the FIA say they will investigate the incident, which saw Verstappen receive a three-place grid penalty that will be taken at the Russian GP.
Race Director, Michael Masi said: “Incidents that are different, so it’s not necessarily high g-force impacts or anything like that, but are unusual, we do look at.
“Our safety department does look at them in detail, investigate and see what we can learn and what we can improve for the future.
“That’s how we have a whole lot of the safety features that we have today, and will continue to evolve into the future.
“We are already collecting all of the data, so we have all of the information and that will all go to our safety department together with any photographs and anything else we have along the way.”
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen react to dangerous crash More

MAX VERSTAPPEN has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix after crashing into Lewis Hamilton at Monza.Sunday’s Italian GP ended in the gravel for both title rivals after the Dutchman attempted an overtake into the Turn 1 chicane.
Max Verstappen has been deemed responsible for a crash with Lewis HamiltonCredit: Reuters
But he failed to complete the move and bounced OVER Hamilton’s car as the Mercedes driver defended his position.
With both men out of the race, Formula One stewards waited until after the chequered flag to review the incident.
Voth were called to answer questions on the crash and it was decided that Verstappen, 23, should be handed a three-place penalty for the next race’s starting grid.
Two penalty points have also been added to the Red Bull star’s licence, which was previously clean.
After reviewing the footage, stewards determined that Verstappen was never even ahead of Hamilton’s front wheel and therefore did not have the right to the racing line.
The Brit was also considered to have taken an ‘avoiding line’ to limit the chances of contact with his rival.

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That left them with the view that Hamilton had put his car in a ‘reasonable’ position’ and Verstappen was ‘predominantly to blame’.
The incident also saw the 36-year-old escape potentially serious injury as the Red Bull bounced off the Halo device above his head.
It left Hamilton feeling ‘sore’ but both men walked away from the scene of the crash.
Verstappen had played down his role in the collision before seeing the stewards.
He declared: “These things happen. We are all professional enough to get on with it and keep on racing each other.
“But I did not expect him to keep on squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. He did not even need to.
“If he would have left me a car width we would have raced out of Turn 2 and he would have probably would have stayed in front anyway.
“He kept on pushing me wider and wider and at one point there was nowhere to go and he pushed me onto the sausage kerb and that is why we touched, because the rear tyre bumped up to his tyre.”
Footage showed Verstappen was never in front of Hamilton in the moveCredit: Rex
The Brit escaped serious injury thanks to his Halo deviceCredit: AFP
Following the last of a triple-header of races in Italy, F1 now heads to Sochi for the Russian GP on September 26.
Verstappen increased his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to five points after finishing second in Saturday’s sprint qualifying.
Hamilton said: “I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him. I went into Turn 1 and I was ahead and was ahead going into Turn 2, then all of a sudden he was on top of me.”

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Lewis Hamilton inches from tragedy as Max Verstappen’s car LANDS on him in terrifying Italian GP crash More

LEWIS HAMILTON escaped his crash with Max Verstappen with just a sore neck after his rival’s Red Bull landed on top of his car.The Formula One title contenders both ended up in the gravel midway through Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix after a collision at the Turn 1 chicane.
Lewis Hamilton was saved by his Halo in Sunday’s crashCredit: AFP
Verstappen approached Hamilton from behind at the seven-time champion’s slow pit stop and attempted an overtake, before running out of space and bumping into his rival’s Mercedes.
The crash sent his Red Bull into the air and it landed on Hamilton’s car, even clipping the Halo device that protected his head.
The 36-year-old was therefore left with only a stiff neck as both men walked away from what could have been a nasty incident.
Hamilton told Sky Sports: “I’m a little bit stiff and a bit sore on my neck.
“[The car] landed on my head – but I’ll be okay.
“From what I remember, I was racing as hard as I could. I finally got past Lando [Norris] so they pitted me. The pit stop was slow, Max was coming.

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“I made sure I left a car’s width on the outside for him. I went into Turn 1 and I was ahead and was ahead going into Turn 2, then all of a sudden he was on top of me.”
The pair were called to the stewards after the race at Monza, which saw McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo swoop to a stunning one-two victory.
Verstappen, 23, maintained his innocence having initiated the overtake that led to the crash – but was handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race, in Russia in two weeks’ time.
He had insisted that, like their collision at Silverstone earlier this year, ‘these things happen’.
He stated: “We realised we were going to be close into Turn 1.
“I took the wide line and I had to go on the green kerb to not make contact.
Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled at the Turn 1 chicaneCredit: AFP
The collision led to the title rivals both exiting the raceCredit: Alamy
“He realised I was going for it and kept squeezing me and I wanted to work with him, I wanted to race.
“Everyone automatically starts talking about Silverstone but these things happen. We are all professional enough to get on with it and keep on racing each other.
“But I did not expect him to keep on squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. He did not even need to – if he would have left me a car width we would have raced out of Turn 2 and he would have probably would have stayed in front anyway.
“He kept on pushing me wider and wider and at one point there was nowhere to go and he pushed me onto the sausage kerb and that is why we touched, because the rear tyre bumped up to his tyre.”
Neither Hamilton nor Verstappen led the Grand Prix after Ricciardo launched ahead off the start.
It led to an early battle at Turn 4, which saw the Merc on the outside and squeezed over the kerb in a rather ambitious move.
Verstappen maintained that the two moments ‘cannot be judged the same’ whereas Mercedes boss Toto Wolff squared the blame with the Red Bull star.
Wolff told Sky Sports: “The stewards are going to decide who is predominantly to blame.
In football you call it a ‘tactical foul’. Max probably knew if Lewis stays ahead, that is the race win.Toto Wolff
“In football you call it a ‘tactical foul’. [Verstappen] probably knew if Lewis stays ahead, that is the race win, possibly.
“If you compare it to what Lewis said about Turn 4 on lap one, there was no space left – pushed off the track, actually.
“Let the stewards make the judgement. I don’t want to be a punter like some of my colleagues.”
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen react to dangerous crash More