LEWIS HAMILTON said he was grateful to be alive following his extraordinary crash with Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton and Verstappen collided for the second time in five races in Monza following another riveting chapter of Formula One’s best championship battle of recent memory.

Mercifully, the halo protection device, which sits above the driver’s head, and was controversially introduced in 2018, absorbed the crushing impact of Verstappen’s 750kg machine.

“I feel very fortunate today,” said Hamilton. “Thank God for the halo which saved me, and saved my neck.

“We are taking risks and it is only when you experience something like that that you get the real shock of how you look at life and how fragile we all are.”

Verstappen was deemed at fault for the coming together and punished with a three-place grid penalty at the next round in Russia.