Max Verstappen won the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix in which Lewis Hamilton was accused of charging like a bull.
Charles Leclerc finished second with Sergio Perez third.
The name-calling came in a dramatic start. Hamilton, who was later sent down the finishing order to 16th place for speeding the pit lane, came bowling down the inside from 12th on the grid.
As he arrived at the first corner, he braked very late and appeared to tangle with Aston Martin’s unsuspecting Fernando Alonso.
Alonso ricocheted into team-mate Lance Stroll, who then clipped McLaren’s McLaren’s Lando Norris. Norris and Stroll retired. The safety car was deployed.
Max Verstappen won the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix but it was a controversial race
Lewis Hamilton was accused of charging ‘like a bull’ by Fernando Alonso after one corner
Hamilton braked very late and appeared to tangle with Aston Martin’s unsuspecting Alonso
‘Hamilton arrived like a bull,’ complained Alonso, who suffered a puncture but returned to the fray though right at the back, having started eighth.
Verstappen was leading. What’s new? And Hamilton, unharmed in the melee, was up to ninth.
‘There was a gap on the inside and I went for it,’ argued Hamilton over the radio.
The stewards looked into the incident but took no further action. It was a generous adjudication, though the declared policy is to show judicial leniency at starts.
The safety car retreated after four of the 19 laps.
Hamilton remained the centre of attention.
He duelled with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen for eighth place. He was all over him like a rash but the Dane defended manfully, and overstepped the mark when he ran off track to keep the seven-time champion behind him.
The stewards took a dim view of the manoeuvre and handed Magnussen a 10-second penalty.
The stewards looked into the incident but took no further action against the Mercedes driver
Still, Hamilton could not pass. This track at the Hard Rock Stadium is not conducive to overtaking.
Hamilton complained of Magnussen: ‘He drove into me.’
On lap 14, Hamilton espied his moment to attempt a move on the pesky prey in front of him, but it didn’t work. He even fell back a place behind RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
But he clawed his way through Magnussen a lap later yet was still behind the Japanese driver, whom he finally passed.
Mercedes’ George Russell, after a poor start, managed only 12th place. The aggrieved Alonso finished 18th and last.
Hamilton finished eighth on the track before being handed a retrospective drive-through penalty for his transgression during the safety car phase.
Verstappen, supreme, extended his championship lead over Red Bull team-mate Perez to 27 points.
