The relationship between title rivals Mercedes and Red Bull has soured definitively since last race weekend. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner have been constantly harassing each other through the media for several weeks and that will only get worse after the race weekend in Brazil.
Everything has of course to do with the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton last Saturday. Mercedes felt aggrieved and targeted by the stewards and that will not have changed during the Brazilian GP.
After all, on lap 48 Lewis Hamilton tried to overtake Max Verstappen from the outside in turn 4. Verstappen weathered heavily and went wide in the middle of the corner, sending him in the direction of Hamilton and the seven-time F1 champion had to swerve completely and ended up next to the track together with Verstappen.
The stewards noted the ‘incident’ but decided not to impose a penalty, much to the disbelief of Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff.
“There was great racing, hard defense and that to the limit,” said the Mercedes motorsport boss afterwards. “Lewis was smart, super smart, to avoid contact.”
“It was great to see these two super pilots compete. But don’t give Verstappen a five-second time penalty or something for that? Unbelievable!”
“I’d love to see Max’s onboard footage. It’s pretty spectacular the way he does it, but I think the way Lewis drives around him and avoids contact is even more spectacular.”
In the end Hamilton managed to pass Verstappen a few laps later, although that did not go without a fight either because Verstappen started to ‘weave’ on the straight, something for which the Dutchman eventually received a warning from the stewards with a black -white flag.
More F1 news:– Lewis Hamilton fined €5,000 after Brazilian GP but retains victory– Max Verstappen rests in second place: “I gave everything”– Lewis Hamilton overjoyed after victory: “This was my hardest weekend ever!”– Max Verstappen has to pay a fine of 50 000 euros himself: “Hopefully they will have a nice dinner with expensive wine!”– VIDEO: Sebastian Vettel laughs at fine Max Verstappen: “I’m going to touch the rear wing, or is the front wing Hamilton only 25,000 euros?”
(F1journaal.be)
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