Hamilton is a sportsman and the opposite of a dirty F1 driver - Wolff
F1 2021’s leading protagonists clashed at the high-spe✨ed Copse corner as Hamilton attempted to snatch the lead away from Verstappen on the opening lap of Sunday’s race at Silverstone.
Hamilton r🐻eceived a 1ℱ0-second time penalty for the coming together which left Verstappen requiring a trip to hospital following a 51G impact with the barriers.
Speaking to Channel 4 from the pit wall directly after the incident, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner labelled Hamilton’s attempt to pass Verstappen as “desperate"🐷 and "dirty driving".
"He failed to make the move in the first part of the lap, and then it was just a desperate 𒈔move sticking a wheel up the inside which you just don't do,” Horner said.
"Copse is one of the fastest corners🎉 in the world, you don't stick a wheel 🐈up the inside. That's just dirty driving.”
Speaking to media after the race, Wolff rejected Horner’s claim, insisting that the relatively few incidents Hamilton has been involve♒d in throughout his career shows he is the opposite of a dirty driver.
“I mean everybody has an opinion, and tha💃t’s okay,”ꦓ Wolff said of Horner’s comment.
“Of course, every team will have a certain bias towards incidents li𝓰ke that.
"When you hear the comments about his driving and the incident, Lewis is the contrary of someone𝄹 that ever drives dirty," he added.
“I think he's a sportsman. We have not seen any big incidents with him and that's why he keeps his demeanour. You saw that the incident wasn't part🍎icul🐟arly bothering him.”
A furious Ho🎃rner ꦡcontinued his criticism of Hamilton after the race.
Asked if he felt Hamilton had risked a life, Horner replied: “Of course you’re putting your🐟 fellow competitors safety at jeopardy.
“I think a move at that corner, everyꩲ grand prix driver knows, is a massive massive risk. You don’t stick a wheel up the inside there without there being huge consequence.
“We’re lucky today, after a 51G accident, that there wa♓sn’t someone seriously hurt, and that’s what I’m most angry about is just the lack of judgement and desperation in this move, that thankfully we got away with today.
“But had tha🙈t been an awful lot worse, a 10-second pen✤alty would have looked pretty menial.”
Lewis r🍨egularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
