Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will have another high profile crash this season as their fierce title battle rages on, an F1 chief predicts

• Formula One title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will crash into each other again this year.
• That's according to the head of the F1 drivers' association Alex Wurz, who said another incident is "very likely."
• Hamilton and Verstappen are currently contending the tightest, fiercest title race since 2015.

The Formula One drivers' chief has said it is "very likely" Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will crash into each other again this season as the fiercest title race in years rages on.

The two contenders came together at the Italian Grand Prix when Verstappen's car rode across the top of Hamilton's. Both drivers were forced to retire as a result.

It was the second time the pair had crashed into each other this season with Hamilton sending Verstappen into a 51g impact with the wall at the British Grand Prix.

Verstappen has been handed a three-place grid penalty at this weekend's Russian Grand Prix for the Monza incident but Alex Wurz, the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, believes more incidents are to come.

"I think [it's] very likely, to be honest. Both have to mark their territory.

"That's sport. If you watch boxing, football, handball, whatever there is, when two greats are coming together, those things happen," he told Sky Sports News.

The Grand Prix Drivers' Association is the trade union for the sport's drivers and the chairman is elected by its members.

There are eight races left of a gripping season and Hamilton and Verstappen are separated by just five points in the driver standings.

Wurz, a former F1 driver himself, said he had spoken to the drivers and while they have respect for each other, they are prepared to fight on track.

"Outside the car I talk to both and they talk to each other, and they have great respect for each other, which is really nice to see.

"But on the other side, on the track it's: 'Hey, we are here to fight, we are here to win the Formula 1 world championship'. It's one of the most prestigious titles you can have in the world of sport.

"They have to fight, it's part of the game. Hopefully with the respect they need for their own team and their own results, and not only for each other, because to finish first you have to finish, so they can't afford too many crashes."

Wurz's prediction was echoed by Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who said he wants to see a clean battle as the season enters the final stretch.

"We don't want to have situations in the future where the only way of stopping the other one scoring is just by taking them out.

"So both of them need to leave space for each other, race each other hard but avoid accidents because it was good fun until now.

"We have seen a halo that saved Lewis' life and Max had this heavy impact at Silverstone. We don't want to come to the situation when somebody gets really hurt," the Express reported.