The Turning Point?

 

F1 is brutal. It is high speed. It is high risk. It requires precision. It requires boldness. 

The 2021 British Grand Prix is a race that will be talked about for the entire season because of one and only one moment that took place at Copse corner on lap 1. That is the contact made between title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen which sent the dutchman into the wall at incredibly high speed resulting in a 51G crash and a red flag. The Red Bull driver was taken to hospital soon after the incident and I hope that he is alright and gets well soon. 

Throughout the season this rivalry has been reminiscent of the battle that Lewis Hamilton had with Nico Rosberg from 2014 to 2016 when Rosberg finally won the championship. Intense racing, almost scary at times with fans not knowing whether the drivers would come out of it unscathed. Think about Bahrain 2014 and Spain 2016 as a couple of examples where the racing was unbelievably tight. However, it was in Spain in 2016 where all the pressure and wheel-to-wheel battles came undone with both Silver arrows crashing into each other. And that is exactly what happened at the British Grand Prix this weekend. 

If you look at the season so far, it has definitely been one of the most competitive Formula 1 has ever seen with nothing separating Max in a Red Bull and Lewis in a Mercedes. Red Bull certainly have had the pace advantage this season as evident from the successes they had winning 5 races in a row before coming to Silverstone. However, the upgrades that Mercedes brought to the British Grand Prix showed that they are indeed ready for a fight till the very end in Abu Dhabi. With Lewis taking first place for the sprint qualifying after a blistering lap on Friday night and Verstappen getting the better start of the two in the sprint qualifying itself, it showed that there was all to play for in the race come Sunday. 

Half a lap of wheel-to-wheel elbows out racing with nobody wanting to yield and the aggression that both the drivers showed inevitably resulted in a crash that we all knew was coming at some point. The crash meant that Red Bull took a huge dent to their championship lead both in the drivers and constructors championships with the difference in both now at 8 points and 4 points respectively. Whilst Red Bull did take the brunt of the misfortune from this incident, Hamilton was slapped with a 10-second penalty which caused much debate in the F1 community. Some believed that the penalty was too harsh and that it should have had been classified as a racing incident. Others thought that it was a "professional foul" in the words of Red Bull principal Christian Horner and that a stop-go penalty was warranted or even worse - a suspension for a race (as put by Helmut Marko). 

There have been many professional opinions about the incident from unbiased points of view as well. Karun Chandhok from Sky Sports believed that while Max did give lewis racing room he may have expected Lewis to back out but he never did. At the same time, Lewis could have taken a bit more curb to reduce the risk of collision. In a similar fashion Charles Leclerc - the man who finished P2 to take his first podium of the season - saw it as a racing incident as it is difficult "to put blame on one or the other." He clearly stated Max's aggressive intentions on the outside. Jolyon Palmer, a former Renault driver, believed that it was a racing incident too as both drivers did not yield. Furthermore, Alex Albon, a victim of being in contact with Lewis on 2 occasions believed that Max should've just closed the door on the inside or done what Charles did and give the right amount of space around that corner. The debate on who is at fault or what the penalty should have been is endless and there will continue to be a stream of opinions over the next few days. This fight will have to be dealt on track. I am a firm believer of fair racing and close racing but the incident on Sunday at Copse was a culmination of many things - but a racing incident in my opinion at the end of the day. Both drivers being aggressive, neither wanting to yield, unfortunately, one came off worse in the end. 

Following the race, there was an eruption of activity on social media as Hamilton fans and Verstappen fans locked horns once again. It is a shame to see that Hamilton was a victim of a lot of racial abuse after the race - reminiscent of the racism faced by England football players Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford after their loss in the Euro finals on penalties. There is no place for racism in society and the fact that individuals resort to this after an incident on lap 1 is shambolic. Hamilton, since 2020, has been one of if not the biggest advocate for stopping racism and increasing opportunities for individuals from underprivileged and underrepresented backgrounds in Formula 1. You have to think very low of yourself to direct those types of comments towards a man who has overcome a lot to be in the position that he is in now. 

I would also like to add that I received a fair amount of shade myself during and after the race. I am a Hamilton fan - I do not deny that. I have been since he joined in 2007. But I think it is unnecessary for me as a fan to be getting insults from others for something I have not done. Just some food for thought. Emotions run high in these situations but it is important to keep a steady head and either keep your anger to yourself or convert that into something meaningful. 

Now imagine a race where the two title rivals swapped positions and it was Max who collided with Lewis and sent him into the wall. You cannot expect that Verstappen fans will be saying it was Max's fault and the penalty is too harsh, rather it would be the same thing - that it was a racing incident and just that Max came out the more fortunate of the two. Nobody really put any thought into the fact that Lewis could have come out of that incident as badly as Max with a possible broken suspension or even more damage and could have gone into the wall before Copse where Max nearly squeezed him completely. If you look at the onboards from the start of the race, Lewis had a far better launch off the line and Max had to leave the track to keep his position - which is fine but once again keeping the advantage by leaving the track. Secondly, on the Wellington straight, while Lewis kept a straight line throughout Max inched closer and closer to the Briton nearly resulting in contact there as well. The dutchman was clearly the aggressor throughout with the Brit not willing to let him go - fairly it must be said. 

I would like to take some time to also highlight the battle on track throughout the season. Whenever Max has been on the ascendancy and attempting to overtake Lewis there has never been an element of fear in the eyes of fans - where they are worried there will be a crash or someone will come out badly. You look at France and Spain for example where the dutchman passed and Hamilton was respectful in the way he fought. But if you look at it from the other perspective it has been tense and the fear factor is high. For example in Imola, Spain when Lewis came back after a second pit, and now here in Silverstone. There is no denying that Max is an incredible driver with an incredible level of skill, however, throughout Formula 1 we have seen that he is one of the more aggressive drivers on track which has at times compromised him and other drivers. A clear example is China 2017 when he entangled with Vettel at the end of the back straight into the hairpin ruining both their races. 

Whilst the Lewis Verstappen battle took the headlines on Sunday at Silverstone, it was the Briton who took the top step of the podium with Charles in P2 and Bottas coming home in 3rd. It could have been very different if Lando Norris had a faster pit stop as the other Brit finished in 4th with his teammate Danny Ric making his first top 5 finish of the season with McLaren. A strong comeback by Carlos Sainz to come home in 6th after a 12-second pitstop and a horrible sprint qualifying with Alonso 7th and Stroll, Ocon and Tsunoda wrapping up the final points positions. A shame for George Russel who could have scored his first points in Formula 1 only to come home in 12th after taking a 3 place grid penalty for his contact with Sainz in the sprint and Gasly right ahead of him in 11th. A race to forget for Vettel who spun out in fierce battle with Alonso from 8th and had to retire the car. An even worse race for the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez who started from the pits after making a huge mistake in the sprint. That was not helped by the red flag that was brought out after the Max and Lewis incident meaning he started from the back of the grid. The Mexican found himself in a DRS chain and was unable to get out of it. What I was surprised by was the Red Bull strategy call. Starting on the hards, you would have expected Sergio to go very long but he pitted extremely early for a set of mediums that would definitely not last him to the end of the race - which they did not. He was forced to pit again from 10th place which sent him down to 17th and after making up 6 places was told to pit again to remove the fastest lap from Hamilton - a smart call to maximise the lead that the Red Bulls had. 

This weekend may have been a turning point in the championship. Hopefully drivers now know the best turning point at Copse to avoid any collisions in the future. We move to Hungary for the next race in this year's incredibly intense championship. A hunting ground for Mercedes - they have experienced a lot of success there with Hamilton winning 7 times there. The fire has been ignited in both the Mercedes and Red Bull camps and the battle is closer than ever. See you in 2 weeks for what will be another eventful race. 

Do let me know in the comments what you thought of the sprint qualifying this week and if it should be implemented regularly? I'd also like to hear about your thoughts on the lap 1 incident as well. I hope you appreciate my point of view.