Max Verstappen doubles down on Lewis Hamilton claim after radio fury

Max Verstappen has stood by his stance on the first-lap near-miss with Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix, insisting he had little choice but to run off the track through Turns 1 and 2.

The Red Bull driver initially moved into second behind pole-sitter Lando Norris, but only after Hamilton's attempt to gain ground through the opening complex left Verstappen taking to the escape road.

Verstappen emerged ahead, only to be instructed to give the position back after race control noted him for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Clearly unhappy with Red Bull's instruction, and questioning why he should surrender the place, believing Hamilton had forced him off the circuit, he eventually complied, which dropped the Dutchman from second to fourth, with Kimi Antonelli also promoted back ahead of him.

Verstappen's frustration before and after that decision sparked an angry exchange over Red Bull's team radio.

"Mate, what the f*** are you guys talking about? He would've shunted it," he fumed to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. "Like, what are you guys talking about? If I just stay on the track, I am out of the race."

To add insult to injury, Hamilton's race ended just a few laps later with a brake failure, and Antonelli subsequently went on to win, helped by Norris' misfortune with the Virtual Safety Car.

Hamilton, for his part, subsequently played down the incident, saying it was "pretty good racing" and, when asked about Verstappen's complaints, simply replied: "Nothing to do with me."

It was particularly costly for the 28-year-old, given the difficulty of overtaking at the tight Madring, with the four-time F1 drivers' champion consigned to a race behind Antonelli from there, holding Norris at bay in the closing stages.

"Maximised the result," he told media, including RacingNews365. "Probably a bit lucky, of course, with the unlucky situation for Lando, because I didn’t have the pace of Kimi, and I definitely did not have the pace of Lando.

"We’re here on the podium, and I think that’s great, but we still lack a little bit to really fight for the win; because it might have looked a little bit like we were in a fight for the win, but that was more because Kimi was getting held up by Charles.

"Because as soon as he had clean air, he just drove away from me again, and I was busy with Lando behind me. But around here, if you drive a little bit in the middle, then you can’t pass."

Verstappen: 'I would have definitely had contact'

The Red Bull driver was then asked whether retaining his position after the opening-lap incident could have allowed him to challenge Antonelli for victory.

Verstappen disagreed, reiterating his belief that staying on the circuit would have resulted in contact with Hamilton and potentially ended his race before it had properly begun.

"I would have had damage at the start if I would have stayed on track, so then the win was also not on," Verstappen replied.

"It’s as simple as that. I just did my own thing in Turn 1, but Lewis went for a move on the first two and bottomed out on the kerb, so he just jumped back onto the track, and that’s why I had to go off the road.

"If I would have stayed there, I would have definitely had contact. So, then my race could have potentially been over in Turn 2, and that’s why I think, where we are now, I’m happy to be."