Lewis Hamilton aims subtle dig at Max Verstappen after claiming his ‘very sensible’ wheel-to-wheel battle with Charles Leclerc at Copse corner was ‘clearly a lot different’ to the infamous collision he experienced with the Dutchman at Silverstone last year
- Lewis Hamilton praised Charles Leclerc for his ‘very sensible’ racing on Sunday
- The Mercedes driver also referred to his collision with Max Verstappen last year
- Verstappen crashed and did not finish after colliding with the 37-year-old in 2021
- Hamilton praised Leclerc and said this year’s battle was ‘clearly a lot different’
Lewis Hamilton appeared to aim a dig at world champion Max Verstappen after the British Grand Prix, highlighting that his wheel-to-wheel battle against Charles Leclerc on Sunday was more ‘sensible’ than his tussle with the Dutchman last year.
During the 2021 race at Silverstone, the 37-year-old collided with Verstappen at high speed as the championship rivals wrestled for the race lead, which caused the Red Bull driver to crash at Copse corner and subsequently exit the race.
The infamous collision caused wide-spread debate as to which driver was at fault, as Hamilton received a 10-second penalty from the FIA before chasing down an impressive win on home soil.
Lewis Hamilton aimed a dig at Max Verstappen by praising Charles Leclerc’s ‘sensible’ racing
The Mercedes driver experienced another high-speed battle at Copse corner on Sunday, fighting tooth-and-nail with Leclerc in a duel for the podium.
As Hamilton forced an overtake, the Monegasque driver quickly took an outside line around Copse corner to regain position, rather than risking a crash on the inside.
Hamilton was eager to praise Leclerc for his strategy after the race.
Leclerc took an outside line on Copse corner to fight with Hamilton unlike Verstappen last year
He told Sky Sports F1: ‘Charles did a great job. What a great battle.
‘Very sensible driver and clearly a lot different to what we experienced last year.
‘In Copse for example, two of us went through there no problem. What a battle.’
The Ferrari and Mercedes driver went wheel-to-wheel in the race for third spot at Silverstone
Hamilton claimed his third podium of the season on home soil to cement sixth spot in the driver standings and chase down Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who was ejected from the race after a horror crash with Zhou Guanyu.
After colliding with the Russell on the first corner, the Chinese racer flipped several times before hurtling into the barriers and fencing – he fortunately evaded serious injury thanks to the protective ‘halo’ device on his Alfa Romeo.
Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, Verstappen continues to lead the pack in the title race, though his lead was cut to 33 points following a disappointing seventh-place finish at Silverstone.
