Max Verstappen COLLIDES with Lewis Hamilton and CRASHES OUT on first lap of Formula 1 British Grand Prix

Max Verstappen crashed out of the British Grand Prix on the opening lap as the result of a collision with his championship rival Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton dived down Verstappen's inside on the entry to Copse at 180mph, with the Mercedes driver tagging the rear of his rival's Red Bull.

Verstappen was sent out of control and crashed into the tyre barrier at high speed.

Thankfully he soon stood up and emerged from his car before being taken away in an ambulance.

Later on during the race, a Red Bull statement announced: "We can confirm that Max Verstappen walked away from his car and was immediately taken to the Silverstone Circuit Medical Centre.

"Following an assessment by the trackside doctors at Silverstone Circuit Medical Centre, Max Verstappen has been taken to a local hospital for further precautionary tests."

The race was red flagged with stewards investigating the incident and clearing up the track before sanctioning a restart.

With the race paused, Charles Leclerc had seized the lead - taking advantage of the incident - though Hamilton remained in second position.

Verstappen held a 33-point championship lead heading into the race, but Hamilton now had a great opportunity to reduce this.

"Is Max okay?" said Hamilton over the radio immediately. "He is out of the car," Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington replied.

"I was ahead going in there," said Hamilton. "I was fully inside, it was my line, and he turned in on me."

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner disagreed with Hamilton's opinion of the crash.

He furiously ranted in a radio message to FIA race director, Michael Masi: "In that corner, he was never anywhere near alongside

";Every driver that has driven this circuit knows that you do not stick a wheel on the inside of Copse. That is an enormous accident.

"And it was 100 per cent Max's corner. As far as I am concerned, the full blame is on Hamilton who should never have been in that position.

"You could have had a massive accident. Thank God he walked away unscathed, so I hope you are going to deal with it appropriately."

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Hamilton's Mercedes boss Toto Wolff then got in on the action with Masi.

The Austrian said: "Michael I have just sent you an email with the diagram with where the cars should be, did you receive it?"

Masi replied: "Toto, I don't access my emails during the race deliberately so I can concentrate on the race."

Wolff said: "Well, maybe you should look at this because there is something in the rules that is coming up."

Masi then told Wolff to take his concerns up with the stewards.

The rac resumed following a delay of 45 minutes with Hamilton given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

He ultimately battled back to win amid stunning late drama.