Does Verstappen have a right to complain in terms of crashes with Hamilton?

The crash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at Monza was the umpteenth time this season that the two title rivals came into contact on track. At Silverstone, Hamilton received a penalty for his charge on Verstappen, at Monza, it was the other way around and Verstappen received a penalty. Often this season, however, the Dutchman got away with tapping Hamilton.

Verstappen often gets away with it

That's an observation one makes at The-Race.com. According to them, there was "a touch of hypocrisy" surrounding Verstappen's comments that Hamilton didn't leave him any room in Italy. "Verstappen has gotten away with it several times this season that he didn't leave room for Hamilton on the first lap of the race. But he will probably argue that this is different because it is always on the opening lap rather than later."

According to the website, the Dutchman knows that the stewards want drivers to race on the first lap of the race and are therefore more lenient in handing out penalties, and Verstappen knows how to turn this to his advantage: "That's why Verstappen got away with not leaving space for Hamilton at several races this season and put the emphasis on Hamilton to avoid collisions. And it's why Verstappen thinks he can do that while also claiming to be entitled to the width of the car that he felt Hamilton didn't let him have later in the Italian GP."

Clear trend

"Verstappen has failed to give Hamilton space on the opening lap at least twice this season and on a couple of other occasions he has also played the game fast and loose. In each of these incidents, the stewards determined that Verstappen did nothing wrong. And this is not a discussion about whether that is the correct interpretation or not. But there is a clear trend that Verstappen is allowed to be more forceful on the opening lap with an approach that is not allowed during the race itself," said The-Race.com.