Brawn hoping Hamilton Verstappen title fight not won 'in the barriers or stewards' room'

F1 managing director motorsports Ross Brawn is hoping either Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen can win this year's title in the right manner and not "in the barriers or the stewards' room".

The Italian Grand Prix incident, that culminated in Verstappen's Red Bull landing on top of Hamilton's Mercedes, was the second major collision between the pair this year following their clash at Silverstone.

Brawn remarked on that occasion that "I hope we can avoid those incidents in the future", but just two months later, the duo are again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Assessing the latest crash, Brawn said: "Personally, I wouldn’t say it has changed the dynamic.

"You’ve got two cockerels in the farmyard at the moment and we are seeing the consequence of it.

"I don’t think either will back off at either time for the rest of the year but I hope the championship is won on the track, not in the barriers or the stewards' room."

The stewards ruled Verstappen was "predominantly to blame" for the incident, although as at Silverstone when Hamilton faced a similar ruling, it was made clear neither party was entirely without fault.

At the British Grand Prix, Hamilton received a 10-second penalty, whilst Verstappen has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Russia.

"Fans will be split, I’m sure," added Brawn. "It’s clear both drivers could have avoided it. Ultimately I think it’s another consequence of two guys going head to head and not wanting to give an inch.

"It’s a shame they ended up in the gravel because it could have shaped up to be a great race and we were deprived of that.

"I’m interested to see what impact this has on their ongoing battle for the title."

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