Hamilton explains why he won't change approach after Verstappen clash

Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he will not change his approach to racing and fighting on-track after the controversy surrounding his clash with Max Verstappen.

The title rivals made contact during the first lap of the British Grand Prix, leading to Verstappen crashing out whilst Hamilton was handed a 10-second penalty for his role in the incident, though still went on to win the race. Despite being deemed by the stewards to have been partially to blame for what happened, Hamilton is not going to alter his approach going forwards.

"I've been racing a long long long time," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "I've faced stewards, I've faced right and wrong decisions my entire life, I've experienced abuse.

"There's nothing you can throw at me that I have not experienced before, and we deal with it. I'm going to continue to race the way that I race, and I'm going to continue to fight as I have.

"It's got me to this point, with the seven [world championships] - not too bad."

Red Bull attempted to appeal in order to have the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen revisited, but on Thursday evening it was announced that the stewards had dismissed this.

Ahead of the ruling, Hamilton claimed he was not giving it much attention and instead has been focused on other matters, such as the launch of the Ignite initiative, a joint venture with Mercedes aimed at supporting diversity and inclusion within motorsport.

"I don't really put any energy to it," the British driver explained. "[There was] the release of the Hamilton Commission [report], this week the release of Mission 44 and Ignite.

"That's where all my energy is going. I've been so grateful to be in this sport for a long long time and experience lots of different things, with having the chance to try to really create impact and change for the future. That's the most exciting thing for me.

"Obviously I love doing what I'm doing and I'm going to continue to love doing what I'm doing with this amazing team. So yeah, I just don't give it any air."