Lewis Hamilton has been accused of faking his injuries in an ugly aftermath to the scary crash with Max Verstappen that took both cars out of the Italian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo’s drought-breaking triumph at Monza was slightly overshadowed by the horrific incident that terminated the race for title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen.
Lewis
360 views of moment from Sunday in Monza… pic.twitter.com/OuT9GLJnAv
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 14, 2021
Seven-time world champion Hamilton remarked afterwards that he was lucky to be alive and hailed F1’s ‘halo’ safety device after Verstappen’s Red Bull rammed into his Mercedes and came within millimeters of the Brit’s head.Hamilton was rushed to hospital for a check-up following the event after saying that it had left him with a headache and aching neck.
Stunning new footage released after the collision revealed a different angle of Verstappen’s Red Bull slamming over the top of Hamilton’s head
The Brit also struck out at Verstappen for failing to check whether the Mercedes driver was OK following the terrifying incident.
However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said Mercedes and Hamilton exaggerated the situation extremely out of proportion and even went as far as saying that the Brit wasn’t truly injured,
“It was a routine racing crash. All the stories around it were hauled up by the hair by Mercedes,” Marko told German tabloid Osterreich.
“Verstappen had already got out when Hamilton tried to go back to get out of the gravel.
“The medical car saw that and drove on. And then a show is put on that poor Hamilton is suddenly injured.”
Marko’s comments came after Hamilton was pictured rubbing hands with other superstars a the Met Gala in New York.
Hamilton said he will definitely need to visit a doctor about his neck before the next race in Russia on September 26, while complimenting the role the ‘halo’ device played in averted disaster.
“I feel very, extremely lucky today thank God for the halo. That did finally save me, you know, and saved my neck,” he told reporters.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been hit in the head by a car before, and it’s quite a shock for me. If you’ve seen the image, my head truly is fairly far forward.
“I’m so, so grateful that I’m still here. I feel tremendously blessed. I felt like someone was watching over me today.
“I’ve been racing a long time and we are taking risks out there all the time. I believe it’s only when you experience something like that that you get the true jolt of how you look at life and know how vulnerable we are.”
Lewis Hamilton furious with rival
Hamilton admitted afterwards that he was astonished to see Verstappen get out of his car and “just walk by” without checking to see whether the Brit was OK.
“Ultimately when we do have incidents the first thing we want to make sure is the guy that we crashed into or collide with is OK,” he said.
Verstappen resorted to social media after the race to voice his opinions on the “unfortunate” situation.
“Today was terribly unfortunate. The incident could have been averted if I had been provided adequate space to make the corner. You need 2 individuals to make that work and I feel I got squeezed out of it. When racing each other, these things can happen, sadly,” he tweeted.
The Monza stewards blamed title leader Verstappen and handed the Dutch 23-year-old a three place grid deduction for the following race in Russia.
The FIA later stated it will initiate an inquiry into the ‘unique’ incident, with F1 race director noting it was still important to analyze the comparatively low-speed contact.