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Again, we may never know, but it's interesting to pose the question of whether Verstappen would have made the same move against any driver other than Hamilton. There's no doubt that by committing to Turn 2 without having his car ahead, Verstappen was risking a collision.
A collision with another driver at that corner -- Ricciardo in the opening stint of the race, for example -- would have been disastrous for his title chances as it would have taken him out of the race and given Hamilton a free run at victory. But against Hamilton, the same move either takes them both out, resulting in zero sum game, or, if Hamilton makes space, gives him a slight chance of holding the position.
The answer is no he wouldn't. This is why Toto probably wasn't far off when he called it a tactical foul. He gets the move done, Max wins. He doesn't get the move done he takes them both out. Max also wins in this situation. It was a win win situation for Max and since he was most likely to take the engine penalty in Sochi anyway, which will negate the 3 place grid drop, then Max has net gained from this incident.