British Grand Prix – Red Bull boss Christian Horner was left furious with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton following a collision between the Briton and his driver Max Verstappen.
Hamilton claimed victory at the British Grand Prix despite receiving a 10 second time penalty for a collision with Verstappen on the opening lap.
Hamilton wins British GP despite collision with Verstappen
The pair were side-by-side going into Copse corner but the drivers came together with Verstappen spearing off into the barriers. The resulting impact saw Verstappen endure a 51G impact with the barriers. The stewards slapped Hamilton with a 10 second time penalty for the incident.
“It shouldn’t be like that to be honest with you,” said Horner, speaking to Sky Sports. “Max has incurred a 51G accident, Lewis Hamilton is an eight [sic] time World Champion, he shouldn’t be making manoeuvres like that. It’s unacceptable.
“Thank goodness the biggest result for us today is that he [Verstappen] was uninjured. He’s having to go to hospital for precautionary checks after a 51 G accident so I hope Lewis is very happy with himself.”
Horner couldn’t hide his disappointment and the Red Bull boss Hamilton wasn’t entitled to be on the inside of the corner at that point.
“He stuck a wheel up the inside in a corner that you just don’t stick a wheel up inside at Copse, at that corner in that circumstance, he was nowhere near ahead,” said Horner.
“It was contact left front to right rear. And the speed that they’re traveling is one of the fastest corners in the championship and Lewis has got more than enough experience to know that that’s unacceptable.
“I’m just very disappointed that a driver of his calibre should make such a move. He’s dangerous. It looked desperate, and he’s put a competitor.. thank goodness uninjured, but in hospital getting himself checked out.”
When asked about his thoughts on what Mercedes had to say about the incident, Horner shut down any debate.
“There is no point. I don’t care what Lewis says,” said Horner. “Have a look on your own analysis, draw your own comparison. For me, that’s a hollow victory.
“It wasn’t really much of a penalty, was it?”
