Formula One’s motorsport director, Ross Brawn, hopes Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen can avoid colliding in the future so that fans will be able to enjoy the battle between the two drivers.
Verstappen crashed out of Sunday’s British Grand Prix after making contact with Hamilton, who was attempting to take the lead of the race at Silverstone’s 180 mph Copse corner.
The collision immediately became the main talking point of the event, with Hamilton going on to win the race while Verstappen was taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
« As is always the case in these matters, there will be a wide range of opinions on the rights and wrongs, » Brawn wrote in a column on Formula One’s official website.
« What is clear is that we were robbed of a thrilling battle and nobody wants the championship decided on crashes and penalties, and, as in this case, there was a serious risk to either driver.
« It is something both drivers will reflect on. I hope we can avoid those incidents in the future because I think we were denied a fantastic battle.
« They raced each other hard for half a lap, and it was thrilling. Imagine how dramatic the grand prix would have been if that had been the whole race. »
Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said Hamilton was to blame but believes it would have been viewed as a racing incident in the past.
« Who was to blame? You have to say Lewis, » Ecclestone told the Daily Mail.
« In the old days we would have said it was one of those things, a racing incident. It was clear that everyone was doing his best to win the championship.
« But if the stewards needed to get involved then they should have given Lewis more than a 10-second penalty. It should have been 30 seconds.
« Lewis was not in front at the point they collided. It wasn’t his corner. He was almost a car’s length behind. That’s why he hit him at the back not the front.
« Ten seconds was not right. The punishment did not fit the crime.
« If you have to give a sanction, which in some ways they didn’t need to, this was not right decision — it wasn’t enough. »
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/31847140/ross-brawn-hopes-collisions-stop-bernie-ecclestone-blames-lewis-hamilton
