Marko wants Hamilton suspended for Verstappen F1 British GP crash
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko reckons Lewis Hamilton should face a race ban for his part in the crash with Max Verstappen at Formula 1's British Grand Prix.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Hamilton and Verstappen clashed at Copse corner on the opening lap at Silverstone as they fought for the lead - with the Red Bull driver being pitched hard into the barrier.
Although the race stewards ruled that Hamilton was to blame for the incident and handed him a 10-second time penalty, a furious Marko believes a tougher sanction is justified.
Speaking to Sky Germany, Marko said the crash between Hamilton and Verstappen was not a normal incident, as he accused the world champion of dangerous driving.
Asked about a regular penalty, Marko said: "You can't do that with the normal sporting code.
"I don't know what the maximum penalty would be, but such dangerous and reckless behaviour should be punished with a suspension or something."
Marko said there was no doubt in his mind that Hamilton was to blame for the accident – and he felt it was out of order for such an incident to have happened at a high-speed corner like Copse.
"If a competitor massively touches our rear wheel with his front wheel, then that's no longer a racing accident in the fastest corner of the course," he said. "That is negligent to dangerous behaviour."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
When it was suggested to him that Mercedes had reckoned Verstappen had been to blame for the crash, Marko said: "Then they are all blind. The replays showed that quite clearly. He went into our right rear wheel with his left front wheel and sent Verstappen into the barrier."
Red Bull revealed that Verstappen's impact with the tyre barrier registered at 51G, with the race having to be red flagged so that repairs could be made.
A furious Horner has messaged F1 race director Michael Masi to make clear that he felt Hamilton was wholly to blame for the crash.
"As far as I'm concerned, full blame lays on Hamilton who should never have been in that position," he said.
"You could have had a massive accident. Thank God he's walked away unscathed. So, I hope you're going to deal with it appropriately."
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