Max Verstappen says he ‘doesn’t understand’ why he and Lewis Hamilton have so regularly collided in F1

Max Verstappen says he “doesn’t understand” why he and Lewis Hamilton have so regularly collided in F1 and that “somehow with Lewis it’s a different story”.

Red Bull’s Verstappen cruised to the 2022 title with Hamilton and Mercedes languishing down the pack, but the pair still managed to come together in Brazil even when relatively little was riding on the race.

That made it their fourth crash in just two seasons, after three previous incidents during the tumultuous 2021 season that saw them at loggerheads every week as they competed for the title, which Verstappen won on the last lap of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

“Somehow, with Lewis it’s a different story. And I honestly don’t understand.

“Like, this year, OK we haven’t really had a lot of battles. But Brazil we got together – it was not my intention [that we crashed]. I got the blame for it, which I didn’t find fair.

“If it would’ve been more of a racing incident that I could live with.

“But…I don’t understand. Maybe it’s just a generation thing – that we understand each other better, we are racing nicer to each other. I don’t get it.

“But I don’t feel like I’m doing anything different to Lewis or to the other drivers in terms of how we’re racing.

“Because the day before with George [Russell, in the Interlagos sprint race], we were having an incredible [fight] – closing the door, defending, out-braking each other.

“That was a lot of fun and I was trying to do the same in the main race – having that kind of battle. But unfortunately we couldn’t get it to work.”

Responding to why he feels he needs to be “careful” of what he says, Verstappen added: “Because in England this can very quickly be received as criticism. And then I’m being called out on it.

“I always respect Lewis a lot for what he has achieved in the sport, but that’s why I don’t really understand why we cannot really race like I’ve been doing with the others.

“Of course, everyone is different in their approach. I know that Charles [Leclerc] is a bit different to George, or to Carlos [Sainz] or to Checo [Perez], or whoever.

“I do have to be a little bit more careful with that because immediately it’s really taken as criticism. And then people start to hate on you. Well, that’s not my intention.”