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Hamilton calls for 'balance and respect' in future racing with Verstappen

Lewsi Hamilton believes both he and Max Verstappen have something to learn from their collision at Silverstone.

Lewis Hamilton wants to try finding a good balance of aggression and respect with title rival Max Verstappen going forward, following their collision at the British Grand Prix. Verstappen crashed out of the race following the clash at Copse, with Hamilton recovering from a ten second penalty for the collision to win the race. Speaking to media after his win, Hamilton said that he believes a good compromise on aggression can be found for future battles. "I would like to think that we should generally grow and learn from these experiences," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365. "There’s never a… there’s rarely an incident that’s 100% someone’s fault. It’s always a mixture because there are two people – or more obviously – so I think there’s things that we can both learn. "I would say that Max is probably one of the most aggressive drivers here – just from my personal opinion – he does a great job of course – but I think we have to really try to find the best balance we can on track with space and respect between one another so that we can continue racing and have good races without colliding." Asked whether there was any extra context to the battle, given that Verstappen has crowded Hamilton at the first corners at Imola and Catalunya, Hamilton believed his fight with the Dutchman to be normal, given the circumstances. "I think it’s a normal battle," he said. "I think I’ve generally… when I was younger, of course, I was probably as aggressive – maybe actually not as aggressive as Max is, but I was pretty aggressive as a youngster – and I think now, I’m a lot older now and I know it’s a marathon not a sprint and so I think I have a better view in how I approach my racing. "But we’re in a battle and I think this year he has been very aggressive and most of the times I’ve had to concede and just avoid incident with him and live to fight on later on in the race. "As you saw yesterday, once he’s out in the clear, they’re too fast so when an opportunity comes, I’ve got to try and take it, that’s what we’re out there doing, and racing, and this one moment, I got a great exit out of Turn 7 and I was really happy with the dummy that I was able to go to the left and then go to the inside and get up that gap. Fortunately he wasn’t able to close it. But unfortunately the aggression stayed from his side and we collided. It’s unfortunate but it’s a racing incident, these things happen."

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