Mercedes have expressed their regret over their handling of the Silverstone crash which left Max Verstappen in hospital.
The incident on the first lap of the British Grand Prix in 2021 was a flashpoint in that season’s bitter title race and resulted with Verstappen’s Red Bull clipping rival Lewis Hamilton at Copse, before spinning off the track at high speed.
The Dutch driver hit the barrier with huge force and, although able to climb out of the car following the 51G impact, was taken to hospital in a helicopter as a precaution.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner later revealed his driver had been briefly knocked out, while Hamilton served a time penalty after being deemed at fault for the collision, though still went on to win the race.
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An incensed Horner and Red Bull requested a right of review which was dismissed, and their request was countered with a brusque Mercedes statement which accused their rivals of “a concerted attempt to tarnish the good name and sporting integrity of Lewis Hamilton”.
The victory did little to calm tensions between Mercedes and Red Bull. Both Horner and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko were angered by what they perceived as a lack of concern from Mercedes as the team, with Hamilton, celebrated freely.
Tensions have eased between the two teams in the ensuing three and a half years, but Mercedes’ chief communications officer and team representative Bradley Lord has revealed how the team’s reaction was, regrettably, shaped according to feedback from a Red Bull staff member.
“If we were to talk something we regret, I think, having taken the word of a member of the Red Bull team – and therefore taken a little for granted – (it was) Max’s condition after his shunt at Silverstone in 2021,” Lord told Planet F1.
“I think how we were perceived to handle that aftermath was a point at which that relationship in that season soured quite dramatically.
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“We could have handled that in a different way that would have been more reflective of the concern we had for Max’s well-being at that point in time, regardless of our view of the incident and the rights and wrongs of it.”
“There was that side of things, and then to have, albeit unintentionally, antagonised the relationship, and the relationship with the fan bases in quite an extreme a way as it happened.
“That’s probably the moment. If we could go back in time and change it, I think we would change our responses and what we did at that point in time, around that afternoon.”
Hamilton departed Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season and will drive for Ferrari next year as he looks to re-establish himself as a world title challenger.
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