Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto share “wholesome” moment after Miami GP contact: “Good sportsmanship”

A post-Miami Grand Prix moment between Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has earned praise from fans for “good sportsmanship”.

During the opening lap of the race at the Miami International Autodrome, the two drivers collided, resulting in aerodynamic damage to Hamilton’s Ferrari that compromised his race pace.

Frustrated by the contact, the seven-time champion was later caught on untelevised onboard footage raising his middle finger at the Alpine driver as Hamilton finally managed to overtake him on the back straight.

But by the time the race was over, it all seemed to be water under the bridge.

“Fighting on track but leaving it behind off track is something we love to see. Good sportsmanship,” one approving fan wrote on Reddit, while another added: “Race was young Lewis, after race unc Lewis kicked in again.”

“Exactly as expected. Adrenaline always runs high and from your point of view you're always right... Then the race ends, you cool down, you have time to reflect, maybe watch a replay and get a different perspective. Love to see there's no bad blood between them and hopefully more battles to come,” someone else commented.

Others branded the moment “wholesome”. 

“Looks like Colapinto trying to apologise and Lewis playing it down and saying it’s all good. Wholesome,” one wrote.

Hamilton commented on the contact in an Instagram post after the race. “A challenging weekend for us,” Hamilton posted. “With the contact, I was pretty much stuck in no man's land and couldn't extract more from the car.

"Tough to take especially given all the hard work the team has put in, but this won't define us. It's how we keep going. We're taking what we can from these past few days and putting everything else behind us. We move forward."