Lewis Hamilton has said that his collision with Max Verstappen during the early part of the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix ‘didn’t feel like a respectful move’.
Verstappen ran to the outside of the track in an attempt to squeeze out Hamilton but was forced to retire himself after the contact resulted in a puncture and differential damage.
The pair fought for position after Hamilton started from ninth on the grid after a gearbox penalty and Verstappen began from 15th due to a Q1 crash.
Before going on to the podium Hamilton expressed his frustration at Verstappen’s behaviour and later told the media that the contact was needless.
‘Ultimately, I had a coming together with Max and it was an unnecessary collision,” said Hamilton.
“There needs to be a certain respect between drivers. I need to watch it again, but it didn’t feel like a respectful move.
“It was a silly move for him because he didn’t finish the race and obviously he’s tending to make quite a few mistakes recently.
“It was just unnecessary for him to do that. I can’t really remember what point of the race it was or why we were in that position, but I don’t really care to be honest.”
