Horner on Verstappen's crash with Hamilton: "It's a racing incident"

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton crashed in the Italian Grand Prix. The two World Championship rivals didn't finish the race. Christian Horner argues Verstappen's side in the debate but doesn't see how the stewards can pin more blame on one driver than the other. 

Turn one

Hamilton came out of the pits alongside Verstappen going into turn one. Horner feels that Hamilton gave enough space at turn one, but sees fault at turn two. "Max had the momentum, he had enough space around the outside, lewis gave him enough through turn one, our opinion is that Lewis closed him too much into turn two," Horner told Sky Sports. 

"I think Max earned enough to be given more space. You could argue it from both sides, if you want a middle ground it's a racing incident. You can argue max should've bailed, you can argue Max should've left more space. Difficult to point blame."

Toto Wolff called it a tactical foul: "I am disappointed that Toto would say that. I think it's a racing incident and no one was injured."

Halo 

With Verstappen's car going over the kerbs, the Red Bull lifted into the air and landed ontop of Hamilton's cockpit. Horner is glad to see that Hamilton wasn't injured in the incident. 

"The most important thing today is that the halo did a good job, it's an awkward accident and he came down on top of the Mercedes, thankfully nobody was hurt. We shouldn't have been in that position with the poor pitstop. We had what looks like a human error. It was on the front right, the wheel was done up but the car wasn't released. A human error. Usually, the guys are great in the pit lane. Then Mercedes had an issue and that's what put the drivers together," Horner added. 

"They're fighting hard for the World Championship. Ultimately there's respect and I'm sure they'll discuss it in front of the stewards. They'll be starting next to each other at the majority of races. I can't see how you can portion more blame on one driver than the other."