Hamilton "lucky" to escape Verstappen crash unscathed

Ewan Gale
Wednesday 16 November 2022 15:38

Lewis Hamilton was "quite lucky" to escape with minimal damage following his collision with Max Verstappen, conceded Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott.

The seven-time world champion was hit by Red Bull's Verstappen on lap seven of the São Paulo Grand Prix when the current two-time title holder attempted to move into second position at turns one and two.

Both drivers ran wide and dropped down the order, with Verstappen forced to pit for a new front wing whilst also receiving a five-second penalty for his part in the incident.

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Hamilton, however, fought back through the top 10 before getting ahead of Carlos Sainz's Ferrari and Verstappen's team-mate, Sergio Perez.

The resurgence secured Mercedes' first one-two since Imola 2022 as George Russell clinched a maiden F1 victory.

Asked how much damage was done to Hamilton's W13 and what the effects were, Elliott said: "We got quite lucky, really.

"With a collision like that, you can do quite a lot of damage to the car.

"As it was, there was damage but the damage wasn't huge and in terms of the aerodynamic performance, it wasn't something that would upset Lewis' performance.

"The fact he was able to drive through the field and get back up to P2 shows how good a driver Lewis is but shows the car wasn't hugely damaged."