Hamilton defiant as Horner says Verstappen first-lap crash 'raises the stakes'

By Sports Desk July 18, 2021

Lewis Hamilton refused to accept responsibility for the sensational first-lap crash that sent title rival Max Verstappen out of the British Grand Prix and into the Silverstone barriers.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said Hamilton was guilty of "dirty driving" and questioned how he would sleep after the incident at Copse Corner that caused Verstappen to need hospital checks.

After the race was red-flagged and once Hamilton served a 10-second time penalty, the British driver went on to win his home grand prix and in doing so cut Verstappen's championship lead to only eight points.

"I've been giving my all this past week," Hamilton said afterwards. "Of course I always try to be measured in how I approach, particularly in battling with Max, he's very aggressive, and today I was fully alongside him and he didn't let me into space.

"Regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I take it on the chin and I just kept working."

Verstappen was initially treated by medics at Silverstone but then needed to be taken to hospital.

"He's bruised, he's battered, but no broken bones. It was by far the biggest accident of his career," Horner said on Channel 4.

The Red Bull boss made his "dirty driving" claim just minutes after the crash, which saw Hamilton come up on the inside of the pole-sitter, only for their wheels to touch and Verstappen to suffer a crash that left his car a wreck.

"The penalty doesn't fit the crime," Horner said. "He's had no penalty because he's gone on to win the grand prix. It's a desperate move that you wouldn't expect from a seven-time world champion.

"It's just irresponsible and a sign of desperation and it's completely destroyed the car."

Horner said Red Bull would "consider our options" over a possible post-race protest, after Hamilton celebrated a record eighth victory in the British race.

"I don't think Lewis can take any satisfaction from a victory like that because we were lucky today that a driver wasn't badly hurt," Horner said.

"I hope he can sleep well tonight because that's not good driving."

Horner suggested the crash could ramp up the excitement for the rest of the season, backing his young driver to come back strongly.

"He's fit, he'll recover quickly and he's mentally very, very strong," Horner said. "If anything it'll just make him more determined.

"It just raises the stakes. It didn't need to be like that because it could have been a great race between the two drivers today."

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    Max Verstappen continued to be critical of his own performance despite taking pole position for the Miami Grand Prix.

    Verstappen, who won the sprint earlier on Saturday and had on Friday claimed pole in qualifying for that event, recorded a best time of 1:27.241 round the track in the final qualification session for Sunday's race.

    The reigning Formula One world champion will share the front row with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who like in the sprint, came second.

    Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz pipped Red Bull's Sergio Perez to third, while Lando Norris rounded out the top five.

    Verstappen, though, was not particularly thrilled with his drive, continuing the trend after both qualifying on Friday and the sprint race.

    He said: "We definitely improved the car a bit but I don’t know what it is but every single year we come here I find it extremely difficult to be very consistent with the car and tyre feeling over one lap. It’s super hard to make sure that Sector One feels good and Sector Three at the end of the lap to make that happen together is incredibly tough.

    "Again today it was really about finding that balance, I think we did ok, it wasn't the most enjoyable lap out of my career especially with how slippery it is and you aren't very confident on the lap but we are on pole."

    Leclerc said: "I felt so much on the limit. It was very close until Q3, where we started to push for the last one or two tenths. We started to lose the tyres in sector two and three, overheating them quite a bit. That's where we lost a little bit of time.

    "However, the race is long and this morning we showed a good pace, so I hope tomorrow we can put Max under a bit more pressure."

    Lewis Hamilton recovered from a 20-second penalty in the sprint race to qualify in seventh, one place behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

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    Verstappen clinched pole for the sprint in Friday's qualifying session, and capitalised on that effort to finish ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Saturday.

    The Dutchman had to see off an early push from Leclerc, but ultimately had too much.

    Sergio Perez, Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, recovered from an early mistake to finish third.

    Daniel Ricciardo took fourth, having fended off the challenge of both Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.

    It was a bad drive for Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him from eighth down to 16th.

  • Red Bull designer Newey 'flattered' by Hamilton interest in Ferrari link-up Red Bull designer Newey 'flattered' by Hamilton interest in Ferrari link-up

    Adrian Newey acknowledged Lewis Hamilton's interest in working with him at Ferrari came as a flattering compliment for the outgoing Red Bull designer.

    Hamilton will complete his switch to Ferrari next season as the Italian team managed to convince the seven-time world champion to leave Mercedes.

    Newey will also be on the move early next year and is free to join a rival team ahead of the 2026 season.

    Hamilton said working with Newey would be a "privilege", with one of the best designers in Formula One history at the top of his list of people to work with.

    Those comments did not go unnoticed by Newey, who spoke to Sky Sports about a potential link-up with Hamilton ahead of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.

    "F1 is all-consuming. I've been at it for a long time now," Newey said of his decision to leave Red Bull after joining the team in 2006.

    "2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes, through the championship and at the same time, putting all the research into the RB18 [the 2022 car].

    "There comes a point where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, 'I'm feeling a little bit tired'.

    "It's very kind of Lewis to say that. I'm very flattered. At the moment, it's just take a bit of a break and see what happens next."

    Newey's decision to part ways with Red Bull was announced on Wednesday, though the acclaimed designer says it has been on his mind for a while.

    "A little while now. I guess over the winter a little bit," Newey said when asked about his intentions to depart.

    "Then as events have unfolded this year, I thought, I'm in very lucky position where I don't need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it.

    "I just felt now is a good time to step back a bit, take a break and take stock of life.

    "Then maybe at some point I will stand in the shower and say 'right, this is going to be the next adventure'.

    "But right now, there is no plan."

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