Lewis Hamilton's British GP celebration called 'disrespectful' by Max Verstappen after crash

Joe Rivera

•
Lewis Hamilton's British GP celebration called 'disrespectful' by Max Verstappen after crash image

For Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton's celebrations were a load of bull.

Verstappen, current F1 driver's championship leader, landed in the hospital as a precautionary measure after a devastating wreck on Lap 1 of Sunday's 2021 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, much to the chagrin of Red Bull and F1 fans everywhere. 

MORE: F1 schedule 2021: Date, start time, TV channel for every race

The crash happened after Hamilton hit Verstappen in the right rear tire, causing the Red Bull driver to careen off the track and into the wall at one of the fastest corners on the track and in the championship. Verstappen hit the wall at 51G.

Hamilton went on to win the race and celebrated non-stop with fans at the track afterward — which Verstappen clearly had an issue with. The Red Bull racer took to social media to deliver a wreck of his own to the Mercedes racer:

"Glad I'm ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn't do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on," Verstappen's tweet reads.  

The collision itself was a bit controversial: While it was something of a 50-50 racing incident, Hamilton was assessed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, with race stewards levying the blame for the wreck on Hamilton.

As is expected, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was very peeved. 

"Max has incurred a 51G accident," Horner said after the race. "Lewis Hamilton is an eight-time world champion. He shouldn't be making maneuvers like that. It's unacceptable.

"Thank goodness, the biggest result for us today is that he was uninjured. He's had to go to the hospital for precautionary measures after a 51G accident. I hope Lewis is very happy with himself." 

Hamilton's 10-second penalty was all for naught, as he caught Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the closing laps of the race to take the win. Verstappen seems healthy, which is also a plus.

All's well that ends well, but the beef is just getting started.

Joe Rivera

Joe Rivera Photo

Joe Rivera is in his seventh year with The Sporting News, handling NFL, MLB and some things pro wrestling. A proud-ish Rutgers University graduate, Rivera combines a new-school flair with an old-school soul. He loves dingers, wrestling, comic books, movies, music and really bad puns. He is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater.

You can find him and tweet him @JoeRiveraSN, if you're into that sort of thing.