{"id":59221,"date":"2021-07-28T13:41:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T13:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wordpress_X\/index.php\/2021\/07\/28\/red-bull-s-horner-defends-hamilton-comments-after-wolff-criticism\/"},"modified":"2021-07-28T13:41:23","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T13:41:23","slug":"red-bull-s-horner-defends-hamilton-comments-after-wolff-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/red-bull-s-horner-defends-hamilton-comments-after-wolff-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull&#8217;s Horner defends Hamilton comments after Wolff criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Christian Horner has defended comments he made about Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The Red Bull chief slammed the seven-time world champion for, in his view, committing a &#8220;professional foul&#8221; when he made contact with Max Verstappen on the opening lap at Silverstone, sending the Dutchman into the barrier at high-speed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Horner then went further calling Hamilton a &#8220;dirty driver&#8221; and hoped he was &#8220;very happy with himself&#8221; after a &#8220;hollow victory&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=14893;f1-teams-face-penalties-for-invading-stewards-after-horner-wolff-debacle&amp;catid=84\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">F1 teams face penalties for invading stewards after Horner\/Wolff debacle<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=14880;red-bull-reviewing-evidence-in-hamilton-verstappen-clash-as-fia-defends-penalty&amp;catid=84\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Red Bull &#8216;reviewing evidence&#8217; in Hamilton\/Verstappen clash as FIA defends penalty<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=14916;verstappen-absolutely-fine-solely-focused-on-victory-in-hungary&amp;catid=84\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Verstappen &#8216;absolutely fine&#8217;, solely focused on victory in Hungary<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Unexpectedly, such comments didn&#8217;t sit well with Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI think you can understand that from a competitors\u2019 point of view, the situation was upsetting,\u201d he&nbsp;told <em>Motorsport.com<\/em>. \u201cI can understand that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cNevertheless, the language that was used, and making it so personal, was a level that we have not seen in this sport before.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI think once the emotions are down, we will try to restore our professional relationship for the sake of Formula 1 but beyond that, there were no discussions, and don\u2019t need to be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI think controversy and polarisation is a good narrative and good content for the sport. Where it spills over into personal animosities, it\u2019s where you\u2019re overstepping the mark. But again, everybody needs to judge how he wants to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">A collision you could hear all around the world&#8230; ?<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BritishGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BritishGP<\/a> ?? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/F1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#F1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8kgYDGagAs\">pic.twitter.com\/8kgYDGagAs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Formula 1 (@F1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/F1\/status\/1419263661625856002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 25, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"async\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">In his&nbsp;<em>Red Bull&nbsp;<\/em>column though, Horner felt compelled to respond to Wolff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI felt the narrative that Max was being \u2018overly aggressive\u2019 at that stage was unjustified,&#8221; he replied.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI would like to make it clear \u2013 this was an on-track incident between two of the best drivers in the world. At the point in time when you have a driver in hospital and the extent of any injuries have not yet been made clear, your car has been written off and the stewards have penalised the driver seen to be responsible, it is natural that emotion comes into play, for all involved, whether you feel wronged or victorious.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cBut you only have to look at the fact Max has zero penalty points on his licence and has not been found guilty of any on-track misjudgements in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cThe aggressive 17-year-old F1 rookie Max Verstappen that Hamilton is referring to is not the Max Verstappen of today, just as Hamilton is not the same driver he was when he entered the sport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cBoth drivers are, of course, uncompromising in their driving style, but they are both highly skilled drivers with a great deal of experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cThe reality is that Hamilton has met his match in a car that is now competitive and I agree both drivers need to show each other respect, but Hamilton was the aggressor on Sunday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">In his only comments on the day of the collision, Verstappen was critical of Hamilton&#8217;s exuberant victory celebrations at Silverstone while he was still in the hospital.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-59116\" src=\"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wordpress_X\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1199\" height=\"799\" srcset=\"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209.jpg 1199w, https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/M276209-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px\" \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">And that was something else the Red Bull boss called out Mercedes for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI am still disappointed about the level of celebrations enjoyed in the wake of the accident,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cThe Mercedes team were aware of the gravity of the crash, with Max widely reported as having been hospitalised and requiring further checks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cIt is unimaginable not to inform your driver of the situation, moreover to protect your driver in case they do not show the necessary restraint in celebrating, particularly when it was as a result of an incident he was penalised for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christian Horner has defended comments he made about Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-59221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-formula-1"},"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}