Alex Albon thinks Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were as aggressive as each other in their Hungarian Grand Prix crash, although he reckons there was a bit of “squeezing” going on.
The Williams driver had the perfect view of the incident that took place at Turn 1 on lap 63 of last weekend’s race at the Hungaroring.
The long-time rivals had both swooped past the Thai driver to lap him on the run down the start-finish straight, as they duelled for third place in the race behind the leading McLarens.
However, their battle ended in dramatic fashion when Verstappen made a dive down the inside to try to take the place. The Red Bull driver ultimately locked up, after claiming that Hamilton had moved under braking, and in running deep his left rear wheel rode up over the front right of the Mercedes.
That pushed Verstappen’s car in the air and he ran across the asphalt run off area at Turn 1, before managing to recover. Hamilton kept his position to finish third, while Verstappen dropped back behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and eventually came home fifth.
Asked what he was thinking as the events unfolded, Albon said: “’Don’t be the creator of something that happens straight away!’ And as soon as it happened it was ‘okay, I hope I wasn’t to blame for that one.’”
Alex Albon, Williams
Photo by: Williams
He added: “[I knew] they were close to each other, but I didn’t realise they’d be that close to each other, and didn’t realise it would be overtaking close!”
Reflecting in more detail about the dynamics of the incident, and who was at fault, Albon said: “Both aggressive: Max being aggressive on his move, and then at the same time, I do think there was an element of squeezing.
“But it was all pretty close. I think the call in the end was the right one from the stewards. I think it was a racing incident. I mean, when they’re together, when is it not?”
The FIA stewards investigated the collision after the race but concluded that no action was necessary. While they felt that Hamilton could have done more to avoid the collision, they equally deemed that neither driver was predominantly to blame for what happened.
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