“Glad I’m ok,” tweeted Verstappen from hospital. “Very disappointed with being taken out like this.”
Cleared from the hospital after all the checks were ok. Thank you to everyone for all the nice messages and best wishes 🙏![CDATA[]]>🏻 pic.twitter.com/zBlfbQ8uh4
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 18, 2021
His boss Cristian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, had already laid into Hamilton who won his home race for the eighth time.
“I hope Lewis is very happy with himself,” said Horner. “That’s a hollow victory.”
“Copse is one of the fastest corners in the world. You don’t stick a wheel up the inside. That’s just dirty driving.”
How did that collision between Max and Lewis look from the ground? 💥@Charles_Leclerc had a close-up view 💬 ⬇️#BritishGP 🇬![CDATA[]]>🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/A1Ob4AySDG
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021
Hamilton said after the race that he had felt “a lot of anger after the shunt” and blamed Verstappen.
“I don’t feel he needs to be aggressive as he is,” he said. “I would never back down from anyone. I will not be bullied into being less aggressive.
“We needed the points. He left a gap and I went for it.”
Charles Leclerc grabbed the lead before racing was suspended while crews cleared away the Red Bull and Verstappen was taken to hospital for tests.
It was “a pretty impressive impact,” said Dr. Ian Roberts, Formula One’s medical rescue co-ordinator.
Max Verstappen cleared of serious injury & blames a “dangerous move” from race-winner Lewis Hamilton for their crash on lap 1 of the #BritishGP More @7NewsAdelaide 11:30am-4pm-6pm pic.twitter.com/JNSgDnWLiK
— John Casey (@JohnCasey2880) July 18, 2021
He said Verstappen was “a little winded to say the least” but added there were “no injuries apparent at the moment”.
Stewards imposed a 10 second-penalty, the second lightest punishment available to them, on Hamilton who was still able to chase down Leclerc.
“The penalty given does not help us and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track,” said Verstappen’s tweet. “Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour but we move on.”
Hamilton’s win ended Red Bull’s streak of five straight victories to cut Verstappen’s lead in the championship to eight points.
Monegasque Leclerc was second, 3.81sec back to revive Ferrari’s season.
The second Mercedes, driven by Finn Valtteri Bottas, who had allowed Hamilton to pass after the penalty, was third, ahead of the McLarens of Briton Lando Norris and Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
It was a bad afternoon for Red Bull with Sergio Perez finishing 16th and outside the points to drop from third to fifth in the standings.
– ‘It looked desperate’ -Horner focused his frustration on Hamilton.
“I don’t care what Lewis said. That’s a hollow victory.”
“The biggest result for us was that he was uninjured. I hope Lewis is very happy with himself.”
Horner was also dissatisfied with the punishment.
“It wasn’t much of a penalty,” Horner said.
“I’m not going to let anything get in the way of the crowd’s enjoyment of the weekend and the national anthem and the British flag.”
“It was so physical, chasing down Charles. I was giving absolutely everything, didn’t know if my tyres were going to last.”
Leclerc was disappointed after having victory snatched away, but could still take pride in a strong drive and a first podium finish of the season.