Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2021

Hamilton’s smash-and-grab home win drives rivalry with Verstappen to new heights

2021 British Grand Prix review

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No Formula 1 driver has enjoyed such constant success at their home race as Lewis Hamilton has at the British Grand Prix.

Through seven triumphs at the Silverstone circuit, the seven-time world champion’s victories have been inherently varied in how they have been achieved – from a wet weather masterclass in 2008 to a peerless grand slam in the dry in 2017 and even winning on three wheels just last year.

But Hamilton’s eighth home win in 2021 would prove by far his most controversial of all – and may well see the season-long duel between he and Max Verstappen take on a new, more tempestuous tone for the second half of the year.

It’s easy to forget just how much momentum Verstappen had carried into his rival’s home round. So much, in fact, he could’ve missed the race entirely by quarantining himself all weekend away from the estimated 140,000 people in attendance and still emerged with the lead in the championship.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2021
Sprint qualifying win earned Verstappen pole
Verstappen may have ticked off four wins in the last five races – with Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull only taking the other thanks to Verstappen’s Baku tyre failure – but even he recognised how vulnerable he was to Mercedes’ raw speed around the Silverstone circuit.

“It seems like we are quite quick through corners, they are quick on the straight this weekend,” he admitted after Saturday’s new sprint qualifying round. “So that’s why we have to make up our time in the corners.”

If Verstappen was to extend his championship advantage even further, then slipping out of DRS range in the early phase would prove to be a vital objective.

For the second time in just under 24 hours, a sun-baked capacity Silverstone crowd stood in anticipation of watching an F1 start unfolding before them.

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In the inaugural sprint qualifying, Hamilton’s sluggish start had proved the difference between pole position and settling for second behind his rival.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2021
Hamilton and Verstappen’s fight was brief and intense
On Sunday, when the lights went out for the first time that day and the second time that weekend, Hamilton and Verstappen’s brief but brutal duel played out like a heavyweight bout.

Attack – Hamilton draws level on the run to Abbey and holds the inside.

Counter – Verstappen sweeps around the outside, takings the inside line through Farm to hold the lead.

Attack – Hamilton switches to the outside of Village and takes a much wider line into The Loop to get more drive along the Wellington Straight.

Defence – Verstappen cuts off the inside line early, leaving Hamilton to draw alongside to his right heading to Brooklands.

Attack – Hamilton tries to sweep around the outside of Brooklands but is rebuffed.

Counter – Verstappen hugs the kerb through Luffield as Hamilton positions himself again for a run down Woodcote.

Defence – As the Mercedes grows in his mirrors through Woodcote, Verstappen goes defensive to the right in a bid to close off Hamilton.

Counter – Hamilton commits and pulls to the inside anyway, the pair side-by-side as they scream towards Copse.

Defence – Verstappen is outside and refuses to yield.

Attack – Hamilton is inside and refuses to yield.

Contact.

Of the thousands in the grandstands who instinctively cheered their approval when Verstappen’s Red Bull was sent skidding onto the gravel, many ceased upon witnessing the ferocity with which the championship leader met with the barriers.

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While the title implications were severe, the violence of the collision was even more so. The force of the impact prompted the immediate deployment of the Medical Car as well as the Safety Car.

Unsurprisingly, emotions ran high as both sides held the other responsible for the sickening scene that had unfolded.

“He just turned in on me,” Hamilton protested over radio. “I was ahead going in there, man. I was fully alongside – it was my line.”

The race was red flagged to allow Verstappen’s destroyed Red Bull to be safely recovered and the tyre barrier repaired. Verstappen was able to climb out of his car and walk to the ambulance unaided, but the magnitude of the crash had left him in need of hospital evaluation.

“It’s the biggest accident of his career,” Christian Horner later explained. “A 51G incident. So I’m just grateful that it was not worse than that.”

As both crews sought to put the scary scene they had just witnessed out of their minds for the restart, the reality was that with Verstappen out, Hamilton now had a genuine opportunity to do damage to his rival’s formidable advantage in the championship – even if the circumstances were contentious.

As both Red Bull and Mercedes bombarded race director Michael Masi with diatribes and diagrams over where blame did or did not lay for the crash, the 19 remaining drivers prepared for their third attempt at a grid start of the weekend.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Silverstone, 2021
Unexpectedly, Leclerc led most of the race
Amid the drama, the race had acquired an unlikely leader in the form of Charles Leclerc, who had dispossessed Valtteri Bottas of third place at the start. Only a handful of races removed from a dismal French Grand Prix where he and Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr had plummeted down the race order, the year-high temperatures and open tyre choice as a result of sprint qualifying rules and the red flag threatened to make Leclerc a major factor in the restarted race.

When the lights went out for the third and final time, Leclerc pulled out into the lead in far more convincing fashion than Verstappen had the first time around. Behind, Bottas surrendered another position on an opening lap, allowing Norris into third.

Hamilton was nowhere near as close to the back of Leclerc as he had been to Verstappen, giving the Ferrari an untroubled run down the Wellington Straight. Sebastian Vettel tried to prevent Fernando Alonso from driving clean around the outside of him at Luffield, but spun his Aston Martin in his eagerness to try and keep ahead, dropping him to the back.

With all runners bar pit-lane starter Perez on medium tyres, the race soon developed a similar vibe to Saturday’s sprint.

Hamilton was pursuing Leclerc but was not able to get close enough to seriously trouble the leader. What might have seemed an open goal for Hamilton and Mercedes during the red flag was looking more difficult now the race had resumed – and made a magnitude more difficult by the news that the stewards had awarded Hamilton a 10-second time penalty for the crash that had removed his championship rival from contention.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Silverstone, 2021
Pit stop trouble delayed Norris
After a poorly-timed spin in the sprint qualifying race, Perez in the sole remaining Red Bull was making steady progress up the field having taken the initial start from the pitlane and was running in 12th. In contrast, Bottas was failing to recover third from Norris, while Hamilton was building up what could be a very important buffer over the McLaren driver.

Ferrari looked in genuine contention for a win for the first time since the 2019 season, but a strange problem on lap 15 caused nerves to flutter in the cockpit as well as the pit wall.

“No, the engine’s cut!,” Leclerc alerted his team. “The engine stopped,” Then: “It’s going again. Tell me what’s happening?”

Hamilton was immediately told about the leader’s potential handicap and began to close up behind the Ferrari, putting him under pressure for the first time since the race had restarted.

Despite having to cope with absorbing the pressure from a chasing Mercedes while fiddling with ‘driver default’ settings on his steering wheel, Leclerc managed to keep his cool and made the necessary adjustments to alleviate the problem and keep Hamilton behind him in the process.

After sprint qualifying had proved the medium tyres could last at least 17 laps under a British summertime heatwave, the main strategy concern came down to when best to make the move onto the hard tyres for the second stint of the race.

The answer appeared to be around lap 20, with Daniel Ricciardo the first of the front runners to make the switch at that time. But when McLaren team mate Norris pitted a lap later, he was held in the box for six agonising seconds as the team struggled to replace his right rear wheel – a cross threaded wheel nut later revealed to be the culprit by team principal Andreas Seidl.

Norris’ delay opened the door for Bottas, who was able to comfortably resume ahead of the McLaren in third after he stopped on the following lap.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2021
Perez played a role by denying Hamilton fastest lap
With Hamilton facing a 10-second delay to his stop, it became vital to extend his first stint to be able to give him the best chance of pushing on the hard tyres to make up the positions he would inevitably lose. Mercedes left it as late as they dared before bringing in Hamilton on lap 27.

Penalty served, Hamilton rejoined in fourth between the two McLarens of Ricciardo behind and Norris ahead. When Leclerc pitted on lap 29, the deficit separating Hamilton from the leader that he would have to make up to win the race was 12.8 seconds over 22 laps. With the W12 coming alive after his switch to hard rubber, it soon became clear the hunt for victory was on.

First, Norris. The McLaren driver had proven a difficult obstacle for Bottas to overcome in the first stint, but Hamilton would have much less trouble. In just a handful of laps Hamilton was already sitting behind Norris as the pair navigated the first sector.

Unfazed by the consequences of his first attempt to pass up the inside of Copse corner, Hamilton pulled right as he and Norris approached the 280kph right-hand sweeper. His rival offered little resistance, allowing the Mercedes through and into third place.

It took Hamilton far longer to reach the back of team mate Bottas, but once he was within range on lap 40, Bottas proved even less of a challenge to dispatch than Norris had been.

“Team order – do not fight with Lewis,” came the simple instruction to Bottas over the radio. “We invert the cars into turn 15 [Stowe] this lap.”

Memories of Bottas being somewhat less than accommodating in similar circumstances at the Spanish Grand Prix were quickly forgotten when Bottas duly obliged, blending out of the throttle at the end of the Hangar Straight and allowing Hamilton up to second place with no time lost. With just 13 laps remaining, the gap for Hamilton to overcome to inflict maximum damage on Verstappen’s championship lead was now 8.5 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2021
Report: Hamilton: Pass on “respectful” Leclerc shows how Verstappen move should have gone
Out front, Leclerc had looked every bit the driver who had impressed so much in his first season for Ferrari with a car capable of competing for victories. But with Hamilton closing on him at a rate of over eight tenths a lap, it was looking like an almost impossible prospect for him to hold on for a remarkable Ferrari victory.

Hamilton was already within DRS range of the leader by the time they crossed the finish line on the Hamilton Straight to indicate three laps remaining. He would only need the first one to complete his mission.

Once more, Hamilton used his Mercedes’ straight-line speed through Woodcote to tuck into the Ferrari’s slipstream and pull to the inside on the approach to Copse. As the Mercedes pit wall held their breath, Hamilton turned into Copse for the second time in the race with a car to his outside – only this time successfully making the apex.

Leclerc used his momentum to keep ahead around the outside, but could not keep his car on the track, running wide and off onto the Tarmac run-off. Hamilton was through as thousands of fans roared in support. After riling up their Red Bull rivals by hitting Verstappen and taking him out of the race at the start, Hamilton had followed it up by striking the heaviest championship blow he could.

Red Bull were able to deny him one point. With Perez languishing at the bottom of the top 10 following a disappointing recovery drive from the rear of the field and contact with Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo, Red Bull called their second driver in for soft tyres to at least prevent Hamilton and Mercedes from taking an additional bonus point for fastest lap. It cost Perez his point for 10th, however.

As Hamilton crossed the line to take his eighth victory at Silverstone and 99th career win, it seemed that the majority of the British fans in attendance were too concerned with celebrating Hamilton firmly re-establishing his place in the championship fight than any controversy over how it had been claimed.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2021
Hamilton’s celebration riled Red Bull
But while Hamilton and Mercedes celebrated, Red Bull and Christian Horner could feel nothing but disgust.

“I can’t see how Lewis can take any satisfaction out of a win when you’ve put your fellow competitor and driver in hospital,” said Horner.

“We’re just lucky today that fortunately after a 51G accident that there wasn’t somebody seriously hurt. And that’s what I’m most angry about, is just the lack of judgement or misjudgement and desperation in this move that thankfully we got away with today.”

Horner’s impassioned commentary did not appear to move the race winner.

“I don’t really have anything to say to Christian. It doesn’t feel hollow,” Hamilton said.

“Of course that’s never the way that I ever want to win a race or just in general to race but these things do happen. I just hope he’s OK and I look forward to many more races.”

For Leclerc, finishing a strong second for Ferrari was a result he could not be satisfied with after leading the vast majority of the race.

“It’s difficult to enjoy 100 percent,” he said. “Of course, it’s been an incredible race, I gave not 100 percent, but I gave 200 percent. I gave all of me.”

Bottas took third having played his part in assisting in the team’s victory and putting them almost level on points in the constructors’ championship with leaders Red Bull, who failed to score on this most bitter of days.

The two McLarens secured fourth and fifth for Norris and Ricciardo, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jnr. The second Ferrari driver was badly delayed by a slow pit stop, without which McLaren would have lost even more ground to their rivals in the championship.

Fernando Alonso converted his outstanding sprint qualifying performance into seventh place at the chequered flag, while Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda completed the points-paying places.

After yet another impressive qualifying, George Russell once fell out of the points in his Williams. But he dismissed any suggestions that his sprint qualifying penalty had cost him a chance at first points for Williams in front of a home crowd.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silverstone, 2021
Hamilton left his home race eight points behind Verstappen
While Hamilton and Verstappen had never been compelled to like each other, they had both been obliged to give each other space on track.

That two of arguably the most naturally gifted practitioners of the art of wheel-to-wheel racing the sport has ever seen would eventually clash was never an inevitability – but an inherent danger all the same.

Neither driver’s legacy will likely be defined by what will likely become a historic moment in the lore of Formula 1, it may well come to define how the second half of this season plays out between these two championship contenders.

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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91 comments on “Hamilton’s smash-and-grab home win drives rivalry with Verstappen to new heights”

  1. The one positive to take away from this race is that we can finally put to bed the myth that Hamilton is as good as Schumacher, but a cleaner racer. He’s every bit as cynical.

    1. @red-andy

      Can remember Michael sending a fellow competitor to the hospital, and than shameless partying like he won on merit.

      He is far worse than Michael, especially considering his blatant hypocrisy and complete lack of decency.

      1. Today I painfully have to agree here. I used to cheer for Lewis every race. But through the years it became more clear and clear he is not the person worth rooting for. I am gutted as he could have gone into the books as one of the greats. I guess if you rise high you fall deep. I’d never thought I’d consider Schumacher as the more fair racer between the two. Just wow. It makes you look very different to the Rosberg story too. He probably made the right choice. I wouldnt want to be a single day around Lewis either.

        1. You know what? I liked hamilton at mclaren, guess the mercedes influence of lying, sandbagging, being unsportsmanlike got to him, not an excuse for him ofc but that’s how it is.

      2. I’m loving how melodramatic Verstappens’s fans are now.

        It only took one agressive move from another drive to turn Mr agressive into a snowflake.

        Lol

        1. @Bcoliver, you seem to enjoy the way Verstappen slammed into the barriers, and ridicule his fans being concerned about his safety. Disgusting.

          1. It’s called racing, man.

    2. F1oSaurus (@)
      19th July 2021, 10:12

      @red-andy For just keeping his line when they went into a corner side by side? Pulease

  2. First onboard from Verstappen going into the corner. At 0:28 Hamilton can be seen alongside him.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9RCN4g54Gw

    1. At 0.29 you can see he is still behind and at 0.30 you can see Shumilton failing to use the 1,5 meters to his right and ploughing his car into Verstappen his car.

      He got a penalty (a light one courtesy to Mercedes influence), get over it and live with the fact he is an overrated champion with red mist issues.

      1. Calling him Shumilton just makes you look silly. The rest of your post is equally silly.

        1. Facts hurt I guess.

          Yesterday we all were reminded what a disgrace to this sport Shumilton is.

        2. I wouldn’t bother if I was you, this is the opportunity a lot of people have been waiting for so they can justify spouting vile statements that is part of a much wider agenda that goes far beyond F1.

          1. @Emma the above reply, seems the reply function is working.

        3. Emma, you are attempting to try and reason the prejudice out of somebody who quite clearly isn’t going to want to listen to what you say. They have created their own echo chamber where anything that anybody says that doesn’t support their argument must be wrong, and is an enemy that must be hated as much as possible.

          It is a drift towards behaviour that increasingly verges on the extreme – it is the equivalent in this fandom of football hooliganism, where individuals feel increasingly at liberty to do and say things that once they might have been ashamed to, but now are so fanatical in their support of their hero that all sense of reason is abandoned and all means are now thought acceptable. It is a harsh truth that I think won’t make me popular here, but whilst many here might have condemned football hooligans for their behaviour and presented themselves as being above that sort of behaviour, there are those who are far closer to that mentality than they might want to admit.

          1. +1 Expertly put anon, this is something that is all across society, Even though its been going on for centuries the Web allows for it to travel in milliseconds instead or years, I sometimes think that Trump opened the door wider and people couldn’t get through it quick enough.

          2. @anon
            Lewis deemed guilty.
            His unreasonable fans: No he isn’t. It was Max his fault. Can’t argue with people…..
            Blablabla
            Schumilton exposed: there is no redemption.

          3. And you just made Emma sit down.

          4. Talk about echo chambers…

            Lewis is guilty, the stewards said so.
            But his punishment was so light that he managed to claw back 25 points in the championship instead of Max increasing the gap by 6, which he likely would have if Lewis had not hit him.
            If you think this is fair then you are definitely in an echo chamber.

          5. I love how in Barts world, the stewards are the final nail in the argument when it comes to the question of was Lewis in the wrong, but then suddenly the stewards are wrong because they gave him too light of a penalty.

            Which is it Bart, was Lewis wrong because the stewards said so, but only second mildest punishment in the sport wrong – or is the stewards opinion of no real value? You can’t have both, that’s hypocritical,

        4. @Emma Lewhine Cheatlton

          1. Jeorge ‘One Joke The Wasn’t Funny In The First Place’ Ferrarifan

          2. “Dislike mercedes noobs this team is full of trash…….Dislike red bull noobs lap 69 austria 2019…….Dislike mclaren noobs biggest failure honda seasons ever…….only ferrari for the win no p2 or p3…….” – A Ferrari fan’s profile description, probably

      2. Yes, sure. If he owned up to it afterwards. Then no biggy

    2. @kotrba For me, this is something that is being overlooked.

      First onboard from Verstappen going into the corner. At 0:28 Hamilton can be seen alongside him.

      Whilst I tend to agree with the steward’s analysis of the incident and the penalty applied, Max should know that his driving and attitude played a notable role in why he retired from that race.

      Of course, it looks bad for Lewis in that his car was a lot further back at the point of contact, which most people including the stewards are focussing on, but the relative position of both cars on initial turn-in should be just as important as the relative position of the cars at the point of contact.

      When you look at the replays, particularly apparent in the overhead helicopter view, Hamilton’s car was at least 90% alongside Max at the point that Max BEGINS to turn-in. Therefore, at that moment in time, Max consciously made the decision to begin turning in and take the racing line, despite having another car substantially alongside him (side-by-side for all intents and purposes). At this point the outcome was inevitable. Lewis went for a gap that existed and then had to back off due to a combination of shallower entry and the realisation that Max was committing to the riskier option of the racing line. Max had plenty of space to his left, and so if he had taken a wider line, they both could very well have come out of that unscathed.

      So people saying that Max had the right to take the racing line because Lewis was too far back when they collided, remember that Max actually committed to taking the racing line when Lewis was virtually fully alongside him (okay, 90% is less than 100%, but for all intents and purposes, he was more than enough alongside Max at that point).

      Again, I don’t disagree with the steward’s decision that of the (albeit marginally, 60/40 incident, if the stewards felt that Max had absolutely zero blame whatsoever, the punishment for Lewis would surely have been more severe).

      Max’s sense of entitlement and assumption that Lewis would just yield (such as Barcelona turn 1) was a major factor in what transpired. Whilst there are certain ruthless qualities that make the best drivers rise above the rest, Max needs to realise that he’s not the only car on track, otherwise that attitude is going to bite him hard like it did yesterday.

      1. @ninjenius This is exactly how I viewed this whole incident and Max is going to find that more and more drivers will call him out for his aggression and he will come off second best more and more going forward.

        The cariciture of a man is CH. His language and choice of words are shocking. This pathetic little man enjoys fanning flames with his inflammatory language and pumping Max up. He is doing Max no favours.
        His own life is so bereft of meaning and achievement that he is living his dream through Max. So sad.
        On the other side of the scale, Max’s father is known for his aggressive behaviour, so Max must be influenced in no small measure by that.
        Hopefully Max, who I consider really bright young man will make more mature decisions going forward.
        As for Lewis, if he did not take a stand now,then when. I believe he did nothing wrong. It’s racing.
        As for HM and CH. They should just try and conduct themselves with more restraint.
        At the moment they display the qualities of very poor breeding in my opinion.

        1. @macradar Cheers for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko for standing by their driver. And rightly so, because he is not the man receiving a punishment from the stewards for the incident. For talking about Maxs father, leave his family out of this (unfair) and your genetic analysis of Max as well. This is way out of your league, unless you have a PhD in neurogenetics, which is highly unlikely reading your posts.

      2. Pretty sure penalties like these change a lot depending on intent, not on danger or other stuff, vettel got a 30 sec penalty (stop and go) for a minor intentional ram into hamilton in baku 2017, this was far more dangerous but unintentional and only got a 10 sec one.

  3. I expect both Hamilton and Verstappen to be more disciplined when racing from this point onwards. I think Lewis just had enough from what he experienced in Imola and in Barcelona. At this point, listening to both sides of the incident is pointless because each side will think that it’s not their fault.

    1. *yawn*

    2. If anything this accident will make Max more determined to never ever give Hamilton any,
      space or consideration. It will make him harder and more cynical. Ergo it has become more likely that Hamilton will have the biggest accident of his career this year…..

      1. Thats what I fear too. Lewis put Max live on the line here and therewith his own. It was bound to happen since you could see the hate and frustration building up from Lewis side. Max tried to built up some kind of ‘living with Lewis’ modus but it was clear Lewis couldnt handle it. The red mist at Lewis side makes me feel so sorry for him since he doesnt realise the impact it has on his achievements. How can you waste your reputation like this, just because a youngster is inevitably taking over? How can you be this historically unaware? How come you are not guided by your team in this transition? It’s such a shame to see such a great athlete throwing away all his goodwill over what? Something that was going to happen anyway given their age difference.

        1. At some point he deserves it too though. That’s called asking for it, this is no longer a championship, it’s war.

        2. Marcus Mendez
          20th July 2021, 3:42

          bingo , even if you like Lewis, every Champ has his day and most inevitable stay too long and sully their legacy. Schumacher for instance is still great but and he can be forgiven for losing to a younger man like Roseberg however , it would have been better if he never came back. It seems this year not only is Max more mature than ever, but he’s been given on average a better car. One can argue about team mates , but Max is obviously a great having annihilated rookies and veterans alike. In the longer perspective unless max was killed, the story books from here on out will be re-written from the next generation and max is the likely racer of his generation. If runs away with it from here at a cantor, Lewis’s move will look as desperate as Horner suggest it is. We must not forget, many times this year not only has max beat lewis cleanly, he has also let Lewis by when he knows he can’t win. That’s a sign of maturity. It is grossly unfair of Max and the future of Formula One to be as selfish as Lewis was in that one corner.

        3. you could see the hate and frustration building up from Lewis side

          Woah, cut the vitriol!

          Frustration, possibly, but hate? Nope. They are competitive racing drivers, they may sometimes get angry and rivalries may build, but I seriously doubt that any driver on the grid hates another.

      2. If Max continues his aggressive blocking, Max should expect aggressive moves in response. Period. Karma.

    3. AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
      19th July 2021, 9:44

      Yup. Max pushed Lewis off at Imola, and they came close to a crash in Spain which was avoided only because Lewis managed to swerve left. Max’s aggressive driving style partly relies on the opponent backing off, which gives him the appearance of a daring flat-out racer.
      Like someone on this site said, that Hamilton usually bails out of such situations because he has to protect his championship lead (eg Spain). Today we saw what happens when just the right amount of space is given to Max and the opponent does not back off.

      1. That’s pretty much how I see it too. Max has been overly aggressive many times, I don’t see what Hamilton did as being any worse.

      2. Precisely.

      3. Marcus Mendez
        20th July 2021, 3:46

        You forget Lewis survived, it was raining ( visibility lower ) , and as it unfolded Lewis threw his car into the gravel. This is the second red flag that has saved Lewis this year. The points don’t reflect the championship competitive order . Max has actually been dominant and suffered 2 Dnf’s. The best defense for Lewis is he FIA rules unfairly punished Mercedes and in this respect he is doing a great job making a fight of this. But make no mistake, he is being dominated. In particular, Lewis had a drive in Monaco that was forgettable. Max hasn’t;t had any drives where you are like, is he here today.

  4. We? Not everyone is as biased as you.

    1. Response to Andy up there.

  5. @krichelle
    “I think Lewis just had enough from what he experienced in Imola and in Barcelona.”

    So being legitametly overtaken is justification for basically trying to kill your opponent?

    The guy is a sore loser with crap wheel to wheel skills and only capable of winning his titles thanks to the Mercedes car gifted to him.
    And his post race actions also make him come across as a despicable human being.

    #Blessed
    #Gimmerespect

    1. Anonymous user posting toxic comments about a driver they clearly dislike.

      Most people in the paddock outside RB/Merc saw the incident as difficult to judge but you would have it as Ham purposefully tried to kill Ver.

      1. Well if you take out Albon in 2019, do it again in 2020 and then take out Max in 2021, all three in exactly the same manner, being penalised for it all 3 times….. you have got some raised eyebrows at least.

        1. I accept your argument that it’s at least consistent penalties but in all scenarios and including Norris and Perez in Austria, I don’t agree they are penalty worthy. Just racing incident.

          Also Sainz/Grosjean had a similar coming together in 2018 at same corner and it was deemed a racing incident.

          1. and you have every right to think so. Cheers

      2. He’s not anonymous, he probably lost access to his account or something.

  6. Verstappen always places his car in a position that says to his opponent “back out or risk contact”. He can’t have any complaints when he comes up against someone equally as committed.

    It’s happened before and Hamilton has backed out to avoid contact, this time he didn’t. Both could have done more to avoid the accident. Funny how all ex/current drivers put this down as either racing incident or 10 second penalty being harsh or justified. I don’t think I’ve seen or heard one of them say it was too lenient.

    Some of the stuff coming out of red bull is embarrassing.

    1. @oweng
      Lol, so now leaving more than enough space is called “placing his car in a position that says to his opponent “back out or risk contact”.

      Shall we talk about all the drivers Shumilton has punted of recently, let alone in his career?

      Lauda was right; Lewis will kill someone someday, such a sore loser he is.

      The fraud is exposed, no hiding anymore.
      And Rosberg was the good guy and not the selfish teammate.

      1. Given this and your other posts it’s clear you’re not here to debate this seriously so I won’t waste my time.

    2. Verstappen always places his car in a position that says to his opponent “back out or risk contact”. He can’t have any complaints when he comes up against someone equally as committed.

      I agree with this. However, whenever the other driver doesn’t back out (like yesterday) and there is a crash, it doesn’t exonerate the other driver.

      Stewards this year have shown that they decide on penalties based on not just the fairness of driving but also the extent of damage / time loss incurred by the drivers. For example, Verstappen didn’t get any penalty for running Hamilton out of room in Imola as Hamilton didn’t lose any positions. But when Norris committed the same offence to Perez in Austria, Norris got a penalty as Perez lost positions. Similarly, Leclerc clipped Gasly’s rear tyre causing Gasly to retire in Austria. Leclerc had to pit for repairs himself and hence Leclerc didn’t get any further penalty. Here, Hamilton clipped Verstappen’s rear tyre causing Verstappen to retire but didn’t have to pit for repairs. Hence, Hamilton deservedly got a penalty. But was 10 seconds enough? My feeling is no. Given Andew Showlin’s statement that Hamilton was headed for a DNF without the red flag and hugely benefitted from the same, Hamilton should have been handed a harsher penalty. A 10-second stop go penalty was warranted.

      Regarding Verstappen’s “back out or risk contact” type of driving, he suffered a DNF for his actions anyways. So, he doesn’t deserve a further penalty. But like I said above, Hamilton deserved a harsher penalty.

      1. The point is just before Max turns in, Hamilton was always level and Max saw it but still decided to continue as if another car wasn’t there. At the speeds they were going it only made sense for the driver now on the outside line to make some adjustments to his line.

        1. Agree with you.

          The driver outside could have done more. He could have left more space. He didn’t. He paid the price for it by getting a DNF.
          Point is the driver inside could have also done more. He could have been hugging the inside line more. He didn’t. He didn’t pay the price for it. The price he paid had to be determined by the stewards and they decided 10s. Which probably wasn’t enough. A 10 second stop go or at least a drive through was warranted.

          The quantum of penalties are never a simple function of who did how much wrong. The consequences of the wrong action also play a role in determining the severity of the penalty. Had it been simply Max retiring without it being a red flag, Lewis would have likely had to pit for repairs. In which case, even a 10s penalty wasn’t justified as Lewis would have been punished ‘naturally’. But Lewis wasn’t ‘naturally’ punished. The stewards had to decide his punishment and that was lenient in my opinon.

    3. F1oSaurus (@)
      19th July 2021, 10:15

      @oweng Exactly. Especially since the stewards confirm he was alongside it’s bizarre how they even put any blame for this incident on Hamilton. Norris and Leclerc showed how it’s done in that same corner when you lost the position.

  7. Punt your only championship- and race leading rival out of the race. Be allowed to repair your damage during the red flag. Receive a pointless penalty everyone knew would have no effect on the race result. And then to celebrate like you won the wdc, while many F1 fans have a feeling of being robbed of a fair championship fight.

    What a truly bad day for F1.

    Gloves might be off for the rest of the season though. This might backfire on Lewis. He lost the sympathy of the majority of the crowd thats for sure.

    1. Bar the UK, the public opinion is very clear. Just make a tour through EU media. There is no way around it. He has now done this 3 times (Albon Brasil 2019, Albon Austria 2020 and UK 2021). People are not blind.

      1. True, almost as many people gave the race 1 as they gave it 8 (20% each roughly), there’s no other reason to give 1 to this race than the crash + insufficient penalty + undeserved win.

  8. I saw the entire thing as a racing incident brought about by two great and uncompromising drivers, and can only see this rivalry getting more intense as the season progresses.

    Both will probably be doing their best to not let something like this happen again this season but it’s quite possible that it will. Both are driving at their absolute limit, particularly during the first lap or so, because both know the value of being the lead car when dirty air has such a profound impact on the trailing car.

    To me, it’s added just a little more spice without anyone needing to add gimmicks.

    1. Absolutely. Well said.

    2. This and Imola had a clear reason.

    3. I saw Lewis massively cracking under pressure for the third time (Albon ’19 & ’20, Max ’21). The red mist at Lewis side makes me feel so sorry for him since he doesnt realise the impact it has on his achievements. How can you waste your reputation like this, just because a youngster is inevitably taking over? How can you be this historically unaware? How come you are not guided by your team in this transition? It’s such a shame to see such a great athlete throwing away all his goodwill over what? Something that was going to happen anyway given their age difference.

  9. Just change the punishment for causing a collision. Instead of +5s or +10s do what happens in qualifying:

    +3 race places or +5 race places.

    1. Indeed, good idea, that would completely eliminate the risk of someone ramming off the opponent and winning.

  10. Kimberley Barrass
    19th July 2021, 7:58

    I consider myself a fan of both drivers and the way I see it:

    HAM: “I’m here. Give me Space.” – 31 seconds into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzi9lrTWWD4
    VER: “I’m coming over. Back Off” – 29 seconds into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9RCN4g54Gw

    I’m super pleased with both drivers quite frankly.. – This is what racing is all about.. – In a non open-wheel series this wouldn’t have resulted in such a shunt by Max which is absolutely tragic but Hamilton definitely didn’t move into him.. – In fact, from the first video – I think Ham was pulled further left from the impact.. – You can see the force of Max’s rear right hitting Hams front left and straightening the wheel a bit and Ham fighting against it.. – If there was no impact I think Ham would have been nearer the apex..

    But from Max’ perspective – He steered right looking to hit the apex.. – check his angle and his steering input.. – there was no attempt to slow and take the corner wide..

    As far as I’m concerned – terrible outcome – but good fighting instincts from both. – Great race – hope there’s more to come without the horrible outcome for the rest of the year!

    1. You really need to check out the video by Sky where they show the on-board from Lewis and the one from Max. Lewis just sticks to the impossible line straight into Max and Max actually corrected the car to take an even wider line giving Lewis more space. I feel Lewis didn’t have any intention of avoiding contact. As a matter of fact I think he understood that he was in the perfect position to punt Max off. And that is foul racing especially in a 180mph corner.

      1. I agree, he had two practice sessions on (t)his signature move: Albon Brasil 2019 and Albon Austria 2020. Executed to perfection on Max UK 2021. Max may be the better driver, Lewis certainly is the most dangerous

    2. F1oSaurus (@)
      19th July 2021, 10:17

      Exactly 100% spot on. Verstappen knows Hamilton is right next to him, but aims for the apex anyway. Hamilton even tries to avoid the crash, but gets penalized anyway. It’s ridiculous. this was a 100% clear racing incident as there ever was one.

      1. That is the reason Hamilton got the penalty. Whenever a driver tries to avoid an accident when he’s on the inside line, these past few seasons, they get penalised.

      2. Not sure you noticed, but the penalty had 0 effect whatsoever.

        1. He ended up over 10s and at least 1 position behind where he would have after the pitstop without the penalty. That is certainly an effect in my book.

          If someone spun their car, ended up at the back of the pack, then fought their way back to win, would you say that the spin “had 0 effect whatsoever”?

  11. Lewhine Cheatlton felt his luck run out this season as Mercedes isn’t the dominant car so he has to genuinely use his talent, which to be honest is Rosberg level but 1tenth better.
    The real heroes at Mercedes are Andy Cowell and his team, Rory Bryne and his team
    Wolff, like Paddy Lowe is riding on momentum

    1. Firstly, your use of Lewhine Cheatlton was never funny to start with and is now really starting grate.

      Secondly, you’re clearly a Ferrari fan but which makes you less than impartial when it comes to Hamilton and, dare I say it, a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to cheating. Or do you only like cheating when it’s done on a corporate level by the team itself?

    2. you very noob

  12. While I’m not particularly fond of the race result, I must say it’s a “fair” one. It seems right that Hamilton got a penalty, and its severity also seems to be ok given the pundits’ opinions were far from unanimous.
    But just how much wiser would it have been from Max to not try and win the race on lap 1, but leave Hamilton even more space, God forbid just let him past… if he had gone off the track in the process, he might even have had a case for Hamilton pushing him off. And even if he hadn’t been able to get him back until the end of the race, the worst case scenario would have been losing 7 pts to Hamilton as opposed to the actual 25… and who is to say he couldn’t have won the race from P2, seeing his superior pace in the sprint.
    Looks like Max still needs to learn how to win a championship, and that seems to be quite a bit of a disadvantage in a fight with someone like Lewis.

    1. I agree, but at a certain moment Max needed to decide to commit or not. Once you are past this.. in hindsight Lewis probably would have skid of the track anyway since he was never going to make that corner. Kvyat torpedo level driving which shows how much Verstappen got under Lewis’ skin. Shame Lewis cant handle it like a champ

      1. F1oSaurus (@)
        19th July 2021, 10:19

        What? Hamilton made the corner even when he would have ended wider due to need to brake to avoid Verstappen and then being tapped on the front wheel by Verstappen. Despite all that he still made the corner.

    2. But just how much wiser would it have been from Max to not try and win the race on lap 1, but leave Hamilton even more space, God forbid just let him past… Looks like Max still needs to learn how to win a championship, and that seems to be quite a bit of a disadvantage in a fight with someone like Lewis.

      I very much agree here. As much as, if I had to place blame, I would say more lies on Lewis, Max threw away a massive points advantage by aggressively defending where it wasn’t necessary. Even if he had come in second to Hamilton’s first, with Lewis gaining fastest lap, he would still have a full race win with fastest lap in hand. He risked this result, which could have occurred for any number of reasons, when he had no need and little to gain from it.

  13. IfImnotverymuchmistaken
    19th July 2021, 11:38

    Situations like these are inevitable when we have two drivers in different, but almost equally fast cars fighting for victories and points.

    Always will be, thankfully, because this is hard racing.

    I think it’s funny when people state that “Lewis always gave Max right of way when dueling”. Right, because that’s how you get 7 WDCs, by half-assed overtake moves, and letting people past you.

    It was a racing incident, from which Hamilton emerged mind-bogglingly lucky, and then proceeded to win in the by far fastest car, with a teammate who went out of his way to get out of his way.

    Next time, maybe things come out differently, and they both get DNFs, or just HAM, or again, just VER.

    That’s what I call racing for the championship, you race hard, and sometimes a bit to hard and things run out of control for one or both drivers. It’s going to happen again, and when people are racing for the win, it should.

    We have the privilege to watch two great drivers in equally fast cars, and I can’t remember a season as good as this since 98-99, so just quit whining, sit back and enjoy.

    My only problem with this situation is that in the future there will inevitably be some inconsistent stewarding, and a similar situation will be penalised differentially.

    1. Actually with verstappen out and perez nowhere, I can’t call mercedes by far the fastest car here, leclerc proven that with a capable driver (hell, he was impressive) ferrari was only lacking 3 tenths to mercedes and was the 2nd best car left at the front. Red bull was likely as fast as mercedes ofc.

  14. Makes the “tension” Between Hamilton & Rosberg pale into near insignificance.
    The young pretender challenged the Alpha male one time too many.
    RMR @ RBR Got his just comeuppance.
    RMR – Red Mist Rages!
    Max’s infamous “incidents” now clearly forgotten by the Amnesia suffering fanboys!
    Old Christian sure got his spice up.
    Gingered him up a treat!!!!
    Marriage to a spice girl then????

  15. I was only just able to watch the GP now, so here is my review of the weekend.
    Sprint Qualifying – I enjoyed it; it was an exciting race. However, I still want to see the system scrapped. The race was exciting because the beginning of a Grand Prix is always exciting, particularly at Silverstone, the greatest track in the world, and the fact that it was a short race had nothing to do with it. I am actually disappointed that it was a good race, because now they won’t get rid of it (and might even extend its value)!
    Hamilton vs Verstappen – the penalty was exactly correct from the stewards. Hamilton did move into the side of Verstappen, so was to blame for the incident, but it wasn’t as bad a mistake as Red Bull suggested. It was just yet another example of Hamilton’s extraordinary luck this year, particularly compared to Verstappen’s. The Red Bull is faster than the Mercedes overall this year, and Verstappen has driven far better than Hamilton, but somehow his advantage is still only eight points!
    Charles Leclerc – that was one of the greatest drives I have ever seen in Formula 1. He put in a superb qualifying lap to get fourth and drove very well in the sprint to stay close to Bottas and keep that fourth on the grid, but the race was where he really excelled. Perfect start to jump Bottas for third and great opportunism to take the lead on the first lap after the incident. Now Sainz’s pace showed that the Ferrari was indeed very quick at this track, but I just don’t believe it was even close to the pace of the Mercedes, yet Leclerc held on and even pulled away slightly from Hamilton. He then survived a scary moment with engine cut-outs, and continued to lead for 49 laps in what was not the fastest car, before Hamilton finally got him at the end. Hamilton drove well, but Leclerc deserved that race win, and I wish he had got it. Had he won that race, I would have said it was definitely the best drive since Jenson Button’s win in Canada 2011. As he was beaten, it is not good enough for that title, but is certainly close to it, as are many of Norris’ drives this year. Fantastic race – 2021 really is one of the greatest seasons ever!

    1. Funny, I agree it should be scrapped but disagree it was a good sprint race!

    2. Unimpressed by button in canada 2011 btw, took out several drivers, including hamilton (a formidable opponent on the wet) and alonso! Leclerc yes, you can use every superlative you want for him this race, it wouldn’t be misplaced.

    3. I think, if you are unable to watch the events live, then this format will be worse for you.

      The one place above all that I think it is a great for, though, is at the track. Before, when I’ve been to GPs, Fridays and Saturday mornings just didn’t seem to matter. The track was empty for most of practice. You may get some good support races if you are lucky, but nothing particularly interesting would be going on from an F1 point of view until Saturday afternoon.

      Not so this weekend. FP1 on Friday had all the cars out on track straight away, and they used every minute of the allotted hour that they could. Friday evening brought Qually. Saturday morning’s FP2 also saw most cars on track most of the time. The Sprint Race itself suffered the same issues as many F1 races: It’s difficult to overtake, so much of it was a procession. However, it was still interesting because it mattered, it set the grid for Sunday.

      Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. Did it make the weekend at Silverstone more exciting? Absolutely! There is a good reason most of the tracks are clamouring to be one of those running a Sprint Race next year.

  16. I think Hamilton was on the warparth all weekend , acting like a sulking spoilt child at the end of the sprint when max won , clearly had the imola and Spain moments in his head in this moment and had the mindset of someone who simply wasn’t going to accept finishing lap 1 in any other position than first . This was a close call as they both could have given eachother more space , but the question that has to be asked Is does Hamilton really expect to come out of the corner ahead of Verstappen ? . I think given that at no stage of that “overtake ” was he ahead of him the answer has to be no , thus you’d have to say that Hamilton was basically trying to bully Verstappen into backing down , which we’ve seen from previous battles simply wasn’t going to happen . Did Hamilton deliberately shunt him off ? No , but did he care that Verstappen had a race ending crash as a result of it ? Judging by his post race comments absolutely not . Max and Lewis are just as senna like as eachother in close combat ,this will happen again before the season is out ,the gloves are off ! .

    1. acting like a sulking spoilt child at the end of the sprint when max won

      Did you see Max after Friday Qually? I don’t think his bottom lip could’ve stuck out further as he pouted “It’s not really pole, though”.

  17. I don’t agree with this Max fanboy conspiracy that Hamilton deliberately punted Max off , but at the same time Lewis was in no way ahead of Max going into that corner and therefore can’t expect Max to simply disappear into thin air and not defend his position . Max and Lewis both have a history of hard , borderline conduct in wheel to wheel action and are both adept in the art of the grey area close combat . The gloves are off and I strongly believe that this will happen again before the season is out .

  18. Something I find interesting, after looking at the pages and pages of discussion here, is that the actual regulations around overtaking are a sum total of 19 lines (of half page width).
    At no time is being ahead or alongside discussed, the word corner is only present when related to leaving a cars width on the straight, and the apex is not discussed.
    Maybe it is time to add a bit more?

  19. I find it interesting that when Max’s driving style is described, the words that are used are ‘aggressive’ or ‘getting his elbows out’. I would bet that if you talk to any driver privately, they would say he had this coming.

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