Hamilton laughs at Verstappen over Norris incident

Lewis Hamilton had admitted he assumed Max Verstappen was involved in an incident when he saw a "plume of smoke" in the early stages of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Dutchman clashed with Lando Norris twice on lap 10 of 71 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with the Mercedes driver afforded a good view of the second moment, into Turn 7.

Verstappen was ultimately handed a 10-second time penalty for the off-circuit excursion with the McLaren, having been judged to have left the track and gained a lasting advantage by forcing Norris wide.

Coupled with an equivalent penalty for pushing the 24-year-old off at Turn 4, the Red Bull driver had to wait 20 seconds during his sole pit stop of the race.

Verstappen recovered to sixth, as Norris finished in second place, but it could have been victory for the Briton, had it not been for the three-time drivers' title winner.

Whilst confirming he had yet to see a reply of the coming together at Turn 7, Hamilton was in no way surprised his former rival had a part to play in the drama that unfolded ahead of him on track.

"I have not seen it," the seven-time F1 drivers' champion told media including RacingNews365.

"I could see a group of cars ahead and I saw a plume of smoke, like dust and I knew it was - I knew it must have been [Verstappen].

Whilst laughing, the 39-year-old added: "Like, for sure it was him."

Hamilton is well-versed in Verstappen's approach to racing, having gone toe-to-toe - and blow-for-blow - with the Red Bull driver during their intensely fought F1 drivers' championship battle during the highly-controversial 2021 season.

After Norris and Verstappen's late-race drama at the Circuit of the Americas in the previous round, the subject of driving standards was a hot topic over the weekend in Mexico City.

The 105-time grand prix winner was especially outspoken on the matter, particularly when it came to directly racing Verstappen - and the stewards handling of the 27-year-old's approach.

"It's always been a grey area," Hamilton said ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix. "That's why he's [Verstappen] got away with it for so long.

"I experienced it many times with Max. You shouldn't be able to just launch the car up the inside and be ahead and then go off, and still hold the position."