Lewis Hamilton plans talks with FIA commissioners over Max Verstappen incident

Lewis Hamilton has announced that he plans to meet with the FIA ​​race stewards over the verdict on his collision with Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen and Hamilton came into contact in the closing laps in Budapest last weekend after the Red Bull driver made a daring attempt to overtake Hamilton on the inside at Turn 1.

Lewis Hamilton turns to FIA commissioners over collision with Max Verstappen

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The reigning world champion escaped a penalty for the collision as race control ruled that Hamilton could have done more to prevent the incident.

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Spa ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton admitted he was “really, really surprised” by the ruling – and that he wanted to discuss the matter with the race stewards.

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When asked if he was surprised by the verdict, he said: “Yes. Very much so. I was really, really surprised.”

“I think I was very relaxed about the situation and just said, ‘Look, it’s just a racing accident, let’s just move on.’

“But when you consider that at that point one car was in control and the other wasn’t. When all the wheels are locked, you obviously have no control anymore.”

“And if you look at the replay, at the end of the whole movement I’m very, very far from the apex – there’s a lot of space on the right side – so I was very, very surprised.

“That will be a question when I speak to (the stewards) at some point.”

Hamilton revealed he had not spoken to Verstappen since the collision, adding that their paths could potentially cross at Sunday’s pre-race drivers’ parade at Spa if the Red Bull man “wants to say something”.

He added: “We didn’t speak to each other after that. We went to the stewards and that was it, but we didn’t talk.”

“I don’t know if we’ll do that, if we’ll have time for that. Maybe we’ll talk about it this weekend at the (driver’s) parade, maybe.”

“I didn’t feel it was absolutely necessary. Maybe he wanted to say something, but we didn’t have time.”

Hamilton’s comments come after he criticised Verstappen’s behaviour in Hungary and reminded his 2021 title rival to “behave like a world champion”.

He added: “You have to be a team leader, a team member.

“Maybe not such a team leader, but always remember that you are a teammate with many others and you have to behave like a world champion.”

When asked what it means to behave like a world champion, he laughed: “That’s a good question! Not like last weekend.”

Continue reading: Lewis Hamilton responds to Lando Norris’ comments in the cooldown room