Picture Credit: Twitter
The Italian GP 2021 witnessed one of the most shocking incidents of the season as both title contenders - Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton - collided with each other in a horrific crash leading to the retirement of both the drivers at Monza. The drama started to happen when Verstappen, who was 2nd in the race at that time, had a slow 11.1 seconds pit stop which put him behind the pack on his return to track.
Soon after, Hamilton also pitted and he returned to the track alongside Verstappen. The two rivals on the track once again found themselves in a very tricky situation on lap 26. The Red Bull driver found some space on the inside as he tried to overtake Hamilton. Unfortunately, the Brit did not provide him enough space as both the drivers went on very aggressively on the turn.
As none of the two backed out, there was bound to be a collision and it did happen in a very scary manner. As both the cars came in contact with each other, Verstappen's Red Bull found itself on top of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on the gravel.
Watch the video here:
Unfortunate end to the race for both title contenders
While Max Verstappen got out of his car instantly after the incident, Lewis Hamilton was trying his level best to get his car back onto the track. However, considering the kind of impact on both the cars, it was never going to be the case for Hamilton as he also had to retire from the race, which was notably his first DNF since Austria 2018. Additionally, it was Brit's only second retirement since Malaysia 2016 which was 84 starts ago.
Talking about the current leader in F1 championship Max Verstappen, it was very unfortunate for the 23-year-old who would have fancied his chances for a possible win at Monza. The early retirement of both the drivers ensured that the drivers' standings would not be affected at all with the top two retaining their place with the same number of points.
Hence, the weekend will end with Max Verstappen (226.5 points) at top of the standings, 5 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton (221.5 points).