Lewis Hamilton escalated his war of words with Max Verstappen after he accused his Formula 1 title rival of going “over the limit” at a chaotic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton won his third race in a row to go level on points with Verstappen in the drivers’ standings ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend.

The championship contenders collided in a bizarre incident that saw Hamilton drive into the back of Verstappen as the Red Bull slowed down in order to let him past.

Verstappen had been ordered to give up the place after an earlier incident in which the Belgian-Dutchman pushed Hamilton off the track as he tried to make a move on the outside on lap 37.

Hamilton labelled Verstappen as “f*****g crazy” on his team radio after contact was made and said that the Red Bull man’s driving was dangerous.

And the seven-time world champion did not back down afterwards as he suggested that Verstappen had gone too far with his actions on the track.

“There are some drivers who are over the limit and the rules don’t apply,” Hamilton said. “Today I just tried to do my talking on the track and keep it between the white lines and do it the right way.”

Asked whether Verstappen was one of those drivers, Hamilton said: “He’s over the limit, for sure. I’ve avoided collision on so many occasions with the guy. I don’t mind being the one that always does that because you live to fight another day.”

Hamilton said he hadn’t been expecting Verstappen to slow down on the straight in the incident that saw their cars touch, while the Red Bull driver insisted that it was Hamilton’s fault as he “didn’t want to pass”.

“I didn’t understand why he hit the breaks heavily, I ran into the back of him, then he moved on,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t understand, I got a message afterwards, it was confusing.”