JAKARTA - Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was awarded an additional 10-second penalty for causing leader Max Verstappen to crash on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit, Sunday. However, that did not prevent the British rider from appearing as a champion.
Verstappen, who started the race from pole thanks to victory in the sprint race, had to end his struggle at the British GP prematurely because he collided with Hamilton's Mercedes on the opening lap.
The Dutchman's Red Bull car lost control after the right rear tire collided with Hamilton's front tire causing it to accelerate at high speed and crash into the barrier wall of the Copse bend, one of the fastest corners on the calendar.
Verstappen got out of a car whose chassis was badly damaged and had to undergo a medical check-up despite escaping serious injuries.
Verstappen and Hamilton collide!
The title rivals come together at Copse, pitching Verstappen into a high-speed crash.
The Dutchman was able to walk away but he has been taken to hospital for precautionary checks#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ol1s9dRJoa
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021
Hamilton continued the race with the car that suffered damage before entering the pits.
Racing must be paused before restarting after the track has been cleared and declared safe.
"I was ahead when I went there... that's my path", Hamilton radioed.
However, Red Bull disagreed with Hamilton's opinion, then asked race director Michael Masi to properly investigate the incident.
"It was a very big crash and 100 percent of the corner belonged to Max. As far as I'm concerned the full fault lies with Hamilton, who should never have been in that position", said Red Bull boss Christian Horner as quoted by Reuters.
また読む:
The race continued. But at the end of the race, Hamilton won for the eighth time at Silverstone after beating Leclerc through a late maneuver two laps to the finish.
Leclerc had to settle for a runner-up finish after leading most of the race by 3.871 seconds behind the seven-time world champion. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas brought the second Mercedes to the podium in third place.
With the win, Hamilton changed Verstappen's 33-point deficit to just eight points heading into his 11th race in Hungary on August 1.
After the race, Verstappen commented via Twitter.
"Relieved I'm fine. Very disappointed to be eliminated in this way. The penalty didn't help us at all and didn't do justice to the dangerous movement Lewis made on the track", the Dutchman tweeted.
"Seeing celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we have to forget that".
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