The off-track considerations that led to Hamilton/Verstappen F1 shunt

OPINION: Formula 1’s 2021 title fight turned ugly last weekend when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided at the start of the British Grand Prix. Verstappen thankfully walked away unharmed, but this had been a clash long-since coming.

Alex Kalinauckas Jul 21, 2021, 12:14 PM

Upd: Jul 21, 2021, 12:16 PM

It finally happened. Formula 1 got to see what would’ve happened had an Ayrton Senna/Alain Prost collision – but not Suzuka 1990, to be absolutely clear – taken place in the social media age. And the results, unsurprisingly, were absolutely, shamefully disgusting.

But, leaving aside the opinions of anonymous cowards (which is not to say that horrendous racist abuse such as that directed towards Lewis Hamilton in the aftermath of Sunday’s British Grand Prix shouldn’t be challenged and condemned, it should), F1 can reflect on its fiercest title fight for years arriving at its most contentious flashpoint yet.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.