Christian Horner has suggested it was almost inevitable that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton would collide again during the 2021 season, following on from their latest run-in at the Italian Grand Prix. The title rivals clashed at the first chicane on Lap 26 of Sunday's race at Monza, resulting in both cars retiring. Verstappen was later handed a three-place grid penalty for his role in the incident, which comes after their similarly controversial collision at Silverstone. Given the intensity of the fight for the World Championship resulting in such close racing between Verstappen and Hamilton, Red Bull team boss Horner accepts that this is likely to continue for the rest of the 2021 season. "It's inevitable," Horner told select media, including RacingNews365.com , as he discussed the latest incident. "It's been close racing between the two of them at numerous races this year, and they're racing for the biggest prize in motorsport, so of course it's going to be tight and they're going to be racing each other again in the remaining eight or nine races – whatever we've got left this season. "They're going to be starting next to each other and racing each other, [but] maybe some of the other circuits will have a little bit more space to work with." Horner views what happened to be a "racing incident", whilst Verstappen and Hamilton have both seemingly levelled the blame at each other. Verstappen now leads the World Championship with 226.5 points, after finishing second in Sprint Qualifying, whilst Hamilton has 221.5 points to his name. In the Constructors' Championship, Valtteri Bottas' third place means that Mercedes have leapfrogged Red Bull at the top of the standings.
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