OMNISPORT

Lewis Hamilton accused Max Verstappen of showing a lack of respect after their Bahrain Grand Prix collision on Sunday.

Verstappen's Red Bull made contact with Hamilton's Mercedes when the Dutchman passed the world champion on the inside at Turn 1 on the second lap. Having crashed in qualifying, Verstappen retired from the race at the Sakhir circuit as a result of damage done - including a punctured tire - in that early incident.

World champion Hamilton, who moved up from ninth on the grid to finish third, felt Verstappen only had himself to blame.

"There needs to be a certain respect between drivers," the Brit said. "It didn't feel like a respectful maneuver. It was a silly maneuver for himself, because he didn't finish the race. And obviously he's tending to make quite a few mistakes recently, so it was just unnecessary for him to do that."

Verstappen did not agree with the stewards' verdict that the collision was a racing incident.

"From the start I was enjoying the feel of the car and finding the gaps and it was shaping up to be an exciting race. I had a good tow on the straight, the last corner was really good so it allowed me to stay close to Lewis." he said. "We got a bit squeezed but from the middle to the end of the corner I was ahead, I then felt a nudge from behind and could feel the puncture and therefore knew the race was likely over.

"In my opinion there was plenty of room for the both of us to go around that corner and to say 'no action taken' is a bit harsh as I am now out of the race due to that contact on my left rear.

"If it was the other way around I'm sure he would want it looked into."