It takes two to tango, says Wolff, defending winner
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff defended British Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton after a first lap collision with Red Bull’s Formula One leader Max Verstappen on Sunday.
The high-speed incident at Silverstone ended Verstappen’s race and slashed the Dutch driver’s championship lead from 33 points to eight after 10 rounds.
Hamilton was handed a 10second penalty for causing a collision, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner angrily denouncing the seven-times world champion for an amateur and ‘desperate’ move.
“Everybody has an opinion, and that’s OK,” Wolff told reporters in response.
“Of course every team will have a certain bias towards incidents like that.
“It is a situation that I guess we all have seen in the past when great drivers race with each other. When nobody is prepared to give in, then these situations can happen. But for me it takes two to tango.”
Wolff said had the incident happened at a lower speed corner, the outcry would have been far less. “The stewards think 10 seconds was appropriate, I guess because both drivers were part of the accident, not one alone,” he added. “It’s always much more nuanced.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton thanked Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas for his sportsmanship in helping him to a record-extending eighth British Grand Prix win.
The Finn was second and ahead of Hamilton when, 12 laps from the end, the team told him to let the seven times Formula One world champion through so he could chase down Ferrari’s race leader Charles Leclerc.
Bottas duly complied and Hamilton passed Leclerc with two laps to spare.
“He was gracious to work so well as a teammate to allow me to pass, so I could chase for the win for the team,” said Hamilton. “That’s great sportsmanship, I really do appreciate it.”
Bottas is out of contract at the end of the season and his future at Mercedes remains uncertain, with Briton George Russell tipped to move from struggling Williams as the Finn’s replacement.