Wolff: Hamilton is the opposite of a dirty F1 driver
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Lewis Hamilton is the complete opposite of a dirty driver, despite the criticisms thrown his way after Formula 1’s British Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s collision with Max Verstappen at Silverstone on Sunday prompted huge controversy and left the Red Bull team furious.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said Hamilton should face a race ban for driving that he considered was ‘negligent to dangerous behaviour.’
But Wolff has brushed off Red Bull’s criticisms of Hamilton’s driving and said he saw no problem with what his driver did.
“Everybody has an opinion, that’s okay,” he said about Red Bull’s comment. “Everyone will have a certain bias towards incidents like that.”
Wolff said that rather than being a dirty driver, Hamilton had actually shown throughout his career how much of a sportsman he was.
“When you hear the comments about his driving and the incident, Lewis is the contrary of someone that ever drives dirty,” he explained.
“I think he's a sportsman. We have not seen any big incidents with him. And that's why he keeps his demeanour. And you saw it, the incident wasn't particularly bothering him.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W12
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner remained furious about the incident though long after the British Grand Prix, as he was far from impressed at the danger that he felt Hamilton had put Verstappen in.
“Of course he put safety in jeopardy,” said Horner. “I think a move in that corner, every GP driver knows, is a massive, massive risk. You don't stick a wheel up the inside there, without it being huge consequences.
“We're just lucky and fortunate enough that, after a 51G accident, that there wasn't somebody seriously hurt. And that's what I'm most angry about.
"It is just the lack of judgement or the misjudgement and desperation in this move that, you know, thankfully we got away with. Had that been an awful lot worse, a 10 second penalty would have looked pretty measly.”
He added: “I think if you look at the overhead he [Hamilton] ran wide into the corner because he carried too much speed. That move was never on.
“For a world champion with seven titles, that was an amateur's mistake, and a desperate mistake, and you know we were just very, very lucky that somebody wasn't badly injured.”
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