Whilst Hamilton escaped with just minor floor damage, Verstappen’s front wing came off, requiring a trip to the pits.
The Red Bull re-emerged last, with Hamilton fighting back from ninth, immediately passing cars and eventually finishing second behind team-mate Russell.
Verstappen would ultimately come in sixth after refusing to hand back his place to stablemate Sergio Perez, who had let him past in a bid to dethrone the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc (third and fourth in the race respectively).
After the early collision was announced by stewards to be under investigation, Verstappen was then awarded a 5sec penalty for causing an avoidable accident.
Verstappen would ultimately finish sixth
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
“I went round the outside and I immediately felt he was not going to leave space so I just went for it,” said Verstappen, speaking to Sky Sports. “He didn’t leave me space so I knew that we were going to get together.
“It cost him the race win. For me, it gave me five seconds. It’s just a shame. I thought we could race quite well together but clearly the intention was not there to race.”
Whilst Hamilton claimed during the race that it was not a “racing incident”, Verstappen grumbled: “Where was I supposed to go?”
The pair collided three times alone last season during their ’21 title scrap, at Silverstone, Monza and Jeddah, with the animosity amounting which each collision.
“What can I say?” said Hamilton when questioned on the crash by Felipe Massa immediately post-race, “You know how it is with Max.”