LMAO, don't take it from me...
View attachment 1918718
"I think Verstappen has got to think about his driving standards. They were too much today. There’s aggressive, determined, feisty racing and then there’s what we saw this evening, which was too much."
"Lewis is a clean racer... His record speaks for itself. He doesn’t look to win championships by taking his rivals off the road."
-
Martin Brundle
"Lewis Hamilton is one of the cleanest wheel-to-wheel racers we’ve seen. He leaves space; he plays the long game. Max’s approach is entirely different—it’s 'my corner or a crash.' He puts the onus entirely on Hamilton to avoid the accident." - Jolyon Palmer
"Max hasn't changed. That is his DNA. He goes out there to intimidate and force people off. Lewis has won seven world titles by being fast, brilliant, and fair. He doesn't need those tactics." - Johnny Herbert
---
2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (The Braking Incident)
During a volatile race,
Verstappen was instructed to give a position back to
Hamilton. He slowed down drastically in the middle of the track, resulting in a rear-end collision.
10-second post-race time penalty and
2 penalty points
"In deciding to penalise the driver of Car 33 [Verstappen], the key point for the Stewards was that the driver of Car 33 then braked suddenly (69 bar) and significantly, resulting in 2.4g deceleration... the sudden braking by the driver of Car 33 was determined by the Stewards to be erratic and hence the predominant cause of the collision."
2021 Italian Grand Prix (Monza Crash)
Verstappen attempted an ultra-late move up the inside of
Hamilton at the Rettifilo chicane. His car launched over the Mercedes, taking both out of the race.
3-place grid penalty for the subsequent race.
The stewards officially validated the pundit narrative that Verstappen forces situations where a crash is inevitable unless the other driver yields completely:
2024 Austrian Grand Prix (Moving Under Braking)
While defending the lead against Lando Norris, Verstappen repeatedly changed his line deep into the braking zone of Turn 3, ultimately causing a collision that punctured both cars. 1
0-second time penalty and
2 penalty points.
2021 British Grand Prix (Silverstone Collision)
In arguably their most severe crash, Hamilton attempted to overtake Verstappen up the inside of the 180 mph Copse corner. They touched, and Verstappen suffered a 51G impact.
10-second time penalty served during his pit stop.
Crucially, the stewards did
not rule that Hamilton's driving was erratic or malicious. Instead, they judged that he missed his geometric apex, making him "predominantly" rather than "wholly" at fault
2021 Brazilian Grand Prix (No Further Action on Max)
Verstappen aggressively pushed Hamilton entirely off the track at Turn 4 while defending the lead. Hamilton avoided a crash only by driving wide into the tarmac run-off area
Commentators like Jolyon Palmer used this exact case study to prove that Hamilton's clean nature saves championships. The telemetry showed Verstappen didn't even attempt to make the corner himself, relying entirely on Hamilton blinking and steering wide to keep both cars in the race.
And so on, and so forth.