‘Dirty’: Hamilton puts Verstappen in hospital as F1 title race explodes

Formula 1's biggest rivalry has gone nuclear with damning accusations against "disrespectful" Lewis Hamilton after a horror move at 290km/h.

Max Verstappen crashes with Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix for the eighth time in controversial circumstances. 

The seven-time world champion overcame a 10-second time penalty to take  the race lead with only three laps left to win a dramatic grand prix at Silverstone where he was eventually penalised two championship points for his involvement in a horror crash with Max Verstappen.

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The war of words reached boiling point after the race with Lewis Hamilton accused of a "tasteless" tweet where he failed to make any form of apology for his role in the incident.

He was given a 10-second time penalty by race officials during the race after replays showed him nudging championship leader Verstappen off the track and into the tyre wall at 180 mph on the opening lap. 

The Dutchman crashed out of the race but he walked away unscathed and underwent a medical examination at the track before being taken to a local hospital for further tests. Filthy Red Bull boss Christian Horner said after the race Verstappen's crash into the wall was the equivalent force of 51G.

Horner was furious and lobbied hard for Hamilton to be penalised. 

Verstappen then took the war of words nuclear when he blasted Hamilton in an Instagram post after watching his rival celebrate his win on the podium during trophy presentations.

"First of all: I am glad I’m ok. It was quite an impact at 51G but feeling better," he said as a caption of a photo showing him being pulled out of his wrecked car.

Lewis Hamilton nudges Max Verstappen.

"Obviously very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us in any way and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations after the race while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on."

Horner also slammed Hamilton's character after the race.

"As far as I'm concerned, full blame is on Hamilton, who should never have been in that position,"  he told FIA race director Michael Masi over radio.

"You could have had a massive accident. Thank god he's walked away unscathed. I hope you're going to deal with it appropriately."

He doubled down after the race, saying Hamilton's move to overtake Verstappen on the Copse "looked desperate".

"Lewis Hamilton is a world champion and he shouldn't be making manoeuvres like that," Horner told Sky Sports. 

"It's unacceptable. He's put a driver ... thank goodness the biggest result for us today is he was uninjured.

"He's having to go to hospital for precautionary checks after a 51G accident so I hope Lewis is very happy with himself."

Horner later added in an interview on UK TV: "For me, that's a hollow victory."You boys know as well as anyone, Copse is one of the fastest corners in the world. You don't stick a wheel up the inside. That's just dirty driving."

Hamilton doesn't believe he was at fault. 

"I always try to be measured in how I approach, particularly with battling with Max, he's very aggressive," he said.

"I don't feel like he needs to be as aggressive as he is.

"Then today I was fully alongside him and he didn't leave me any space."

Max Verstappen spinning out into the wall.

After the race restarted, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took a dominant lead and despite having some engine trouble, looked like he could win the race. 

But once Hamilton served his time penalty in the pits, he was a man on a mission - flying through the field and constantly setting fastest lap times. 

At one stage, he trailed Leclerc by ten seconds, but made up the gap with three laps to go. 

The win is Hamilton's first since the Portuguese Grand Prix in May and closes the deficit to championship leader Verstappen to just eight points. 

The Hamilton-Verstappen crash is sure to be the subject of much debate over the coming days. 

"Red Bull will be furious," Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle said. 

"They’ve got a wrecked car and a bruised driver and no championship points.”

Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth for his best result of his first season with McLaren. 

British Grand Prix results

1st: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2nd: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3rd: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

4th: Lando Norris (McLaren)

5th: Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

6th: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

7th: Fernando Alonso (Alpine)

8th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

9th: Sebastian Ocon (Alpine)

10th: Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)