Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Mercedes
Tom Jenkins
Mercedes Team Communications Chief has revealed the team 'regret' how they handled the aftermath of Max Verstappen's huge crash with Lewis Hamilton in 2021.
Hamilton and Verstappen's rivalry in 2021 will go down in the history books, but one of the more terrifying moments came when the pair came to blows at Silverstone, leaving the Dutchman in hospital.
During the opening lap of the British Grand Prix Hamilton collided with Verstappen at Copse corner while fighting for the lead, sending him into the tire barriers at high speed.
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Hamilton received a 10-second penalty for the incident, but with Verstappen already out of the race, the Brit was still able to beat Charles Leclerc's inferior Ferrari and take the win.
Verstappen absorbed a 51G impact during the crash and has admitted he has suffered with his vision while driving since the incident.
Following Silverstone 2021 the relationship between Red Bull and Mercedes deteriorated massively, and Mercedes Team Communications Chief, Bradley Lord, revealed he regretted how the team handled the situation.
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"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 - Max's condition after his shunt at Silverstone in 2021," he 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."
Lord explained that the championship battle and narrative surrounding penalties led to less emphasis being placed on the health of Verstappen.
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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 wellbeing at that point in time, regardless of our view of the incident and the rights and wrongs of it," he added.
"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."
Verstappen went on to claim the championship in a controversial fashion in 2021 despite failing to score points at Silverstone and has won every championship since.