Mercedes accuse Red Bull management of attacking Hamilton’s reputation

2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Mercedes has accused Red Bull of attacking Lewis Hamilton’s reputation through its call for a review of the stewards’ decision on the collision between their driver and Max Verstappen at Silverstone.

The team welcomed the stewards’ decision to reject Red Bull’s request for a review of the 10-second penalty which was handed to Hamilton during the race, which he went on to win.

“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team welcomes the decision of the stewards to reject Red Bull Racing’s right of review,” it said in a statement.

“In addition to bringing this incident to a close, we hope that this decision will mark the end of a concerted attempt by the senior management of Red Bull Racing to tarnish the good name and sporting integrity of Lewis Hamilton, including in the documents submitted for their unsuccessful right of review.”

Red Bull went to considerable lengths in bringing its case to the FIA. The team had its reserve driver Alexander Albon replicate the racing line Hamilton took prior to his collision with Verstappen at Silverstone’s Copse corner to produce data which was submitted in support of its claim.

However the stewards announced today Red Bull’s request had been turned down.

“We now look forward to going racing this weekend and to continuing our hard-fought competition for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 world championship,” Mercedes added.

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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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57 comments on “Mercedes accuse Red Bull management of attacking Hamilton’s reputation”

  1. Good and good for them. Now please stop stating that Verstappen was too aggressive as well. Both parties should move on now.

    1. Exactly! But problem is Red Bull won’t let it go when it was clearly a racing incident.

  2. For a driver with a comfortable 30+ lead and clearly the better car at the moment that was an “aggressive move”

    Hamilton would never have made that move if he had such a lead

    1. +1

      Lose the battle but win the war

    2. The #crashalong channel put Leclerc vs. Hamilton over Verstappen vs Hamilton.
      Guess what, at the very spot where Lewis and Max touched Charles was further inside than Max was. Had Lewis driven the same then, then obviously Charles would have been punted off earlier and harder still.
      But Lewis was further inward as well in Charles’ case; more than a cars width in fact.

      So, was Charles partly to blame as well? Did he take too much risk?
      Of course not. He had every reason to believe Lewis would round the corner cleanly and would not run into him.
      And so had Max, only in his case the trust was unfounded.

      1. “So, was Charles partly to blame as well? Did he take too much risk?” why bring charles in this, charles didnt drive ham into the wall! ham didnt have to open in the last sec to turn in to the corner, charles was not driving in the first lap full fuel load nor same tyres/degradation car balance etc… besides there is no point for ham to be aggressive with charles as charles never drove like a madman with ham ever! why would ham do it? people are comparing all sort of one sided views :) it all boils down to arguments like whether the cup is half full or half empty… did max drove aggresively, he did, did ham hold his line aggressively, yes he did, (in fact for the first time in a very long while) both were aggresive, both could avoid accident, logic states that one with a lot to loose should back out… you who that was when you are alone with your consciousness…

        1. you “know” who that was when you are alone with your consciousness…

    3. I don’t know. I mean how are the odds that one car would survive a highspeed crash at cops unharmed?

      If both cars were out, what in my opinion was the far more likely outcome, Verstappen would have maintained his lead with one race less to go and we would conclude that Hamilton took to big a risk.

      In the end both were aggressive but this time Lady Luck favoured Hamilton.

      1. But it always does!

      2. @roadrunner Playing the numbers though, if both were out of the race Verstappen would maintain his 33-point lead over Hamilton. But if Verstappen successfully defended and went on to win, that lead stretches to 40 points (plus or minus one depending on who gets fastest lap). Hamilton knew that lap one was his best chance to get ahead of the Red Bull.

        So, when you factor in that the outside car was always going to come off worse in any collision, there was really no disadvantage to Hamilton in drifting wide. It was just a question of how big an advantage he’d gain.

        1. F1oSaurus (@)
          30th July 2021, 7:30

          @red-andy We have seen Vettel spin off countless times from overtakes going wrong. So it could also have just caused Hamilton to go off and Verstappen continuing to take the win.

          But yeah going for an overtake is always a risk/reward situation where the overtaking driver hopes to gain from.

          Just as Verstappen turning in was a risk/reward situation where he was trying to bully Hamilton out of his overtake. It nearly worked as Hamilton tried to get out of it, but Verstappen took too much risk and …

    4. Hamilton could have eaily made that move since Max would have made the corner with him (if positions were inverse). The only thing Max did wrong was overestimate his opponent. The only thing Lewis did wrong was not owning up to it. And see where it all leads. Just because Hamilton remains of the opinion that he is flawless and the only one that is entitled to own corners. He must have missed how he won his titles. Not by overtaking many cars I can tell you. So that certainly is not his strongest skill

  3. I agree with Mercedes.

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      30th July 2021, 9:06

      me too

    2. What reputation? The only trade mark Lewis has is driving off into the distance with the fastest car by far for years and years. Cant recall him ever battling with an equal car. So part of his reputation will be that he is rusty and not very precise in combat but stellar when he doesnt have to battle anyone. Whenever he did battle he most of the time hit some one. Thats his own reputation, not something RB made up. Just look at his penalty points for causing a collision.

      What I really dont understand is why Mercedes and Lewis have thrown away everything they have achieved over an error of judgement of Lewis. If they just owned up to it nothing would have escalated. This shows they are truly not very nice people.

  4. This ignores the question of whether the reputation is deserved

    1. It doesn’t @realnigelmansell. Since there is no basis for such an alligation at all, such a reputation is nonsense.

    2. geoffgroom44 (@)
      30th July 2021, 9:12

      well, that’s a 2 edged sword is it not? Do we really think Max’s reputation for being an ‘aggressive driver’ is deserved?

      1. Thats why there are stats on penalty points for causing a collision. Hamilton deserves the reputation but Max has it. Wonder how that is so? The answer is simple: Mercedes propaganda and UK press bias. UK press has a reputation for years and years and are globally well known for this. It shouldnt be a surprise at all.

  5. So how long will we wait before Keith and Dieter bring us the contents of that letter?

    1. Both of them (along with Masi) don’t check anything during a race.

    2. NeverElectric
      29th July 2021, 22:59

      Oh, I’m sure @dieterrencken will dig it out somehow.
      The man has the most incredible reach into the most unlikely places in F1.
      I’m holding my breath.

    3. I fully expect to wake up to see it printed in this newspaper. We have faith in you, Dieter!

  6. I don’t know when the photo in this article was taken – but in it Horner and Marko are looking at Verstappen with the same adoration they had for Vettel at one time. They were blinded to Vettel’s faults then and are blinded to Verstappen’s faults now. They are doing him no favours. After RB Vettel had a tricky time at Ferrari, where he was expected to live up to the disproportionate hype, no-one could so he failed. I feel that Vettel has grown and matured though, and is now becoming a better person. I hope Verstappen will too. Sadly I have no such expectations of Horner and Marko.

    1. Verstappen seems stronger than vettel at peak though, I think wheel to wheel racing was a weakness for vettel even back then.

  7. Hamilton tarnished his own good name by punting Verstappen.

    1. Ham actually drove at a right angle with a harpoon into Verstappen rear wheel. I am glad you saw it too.

    2. A “punt” would not put Lewis “predominantly” to blame for the incident. He would be Wholly to blame.
      Sir Lewis Hamilton is a 7 x WDC and the star of F1. He is known well beyond f1 and racing circles and has been recognised with awards and honours outside of racing. His reputation is in pretty good nick.

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        30th July 2021, 9:13

        yep Dean DR.agreed

      2. Except that since Redbull have become stronger Hamilton has repeatedly ran into them and destroyed good race results for Albon and Max (and Vettel too, to be accurate) and in pretty much all of the instances came off better than the guys he hit. So is the reputation really deserved or did it come of the back off no resistance?

        1. It is just so blatantly clear. Only if you really deny it very fiercely you… no.. then you still see it. Lewis is just being incredibly childish from the moment he encountered the slightest form of competitiveness from RedBull. Twice Albon, now Max (and indeed also Vettel) and still they say he is a good racer. It can clearly be seen that he cracks under pressure. Almost instantly

  8. I can’t wait until a Red Bull is inside of Hamilton and a similar punting occurs on track.

    1. Max will get a race ban for sure.
      Max has the better car and should just keep racing firm but cleanly. Lewis likely won’t punt him off again like this, and of course Max still leads the championship.

      1. I feel like if Hamilton causes another accident with Verstappen like this, they’ll come down hard for the recidivism.

    2. It is rare that you’ll see Hamilton commit to a move on the outside of a Red Bull, he usually backs out. The only time he did it this season was imola and that ended with a broken front wing end plate.
      Only other times I can remember him going around the outside of Max (and commiting) was in Hungary where he had the fresh tyres and gave him about 6 metres of room, and Austin where he gave he so much room he drove wide off the track and lost time.
      After silverstone I’d be surprised if he tried a move on the outside as he’ll know what Max will do

      1. There is a difference between moving around the outside and allready being on the outside in front.

  9. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    29th July 2021, 22:14

    How is questioning a choice ‘tarnishing his reputation’? He did that all by himself by happily saying he’d do it again.

    1. Breaking news! Racing driver damages his reputation by saying he’d race again… honestly @rocketpanda that makes no sense at all.

    2. The issue is the time and effort RB spent trying toget get Lewis penalty increased. Pathetic. Perez even spent valuable track & son time helping withthe the lost cause. A new low for a wingman!

  10. Mercedes Benz is right.
    Red Bull executives have proven themselves immoral.
    What they have done this time is despicable.
    Hamilton is a great champion, honorable, honest and plays fair (despite his mistakes).
    On the contrary, the star driver of this energy drink company is a violent, unsportsmanlike and unpleasant driver who has arrived where he is crashing his rivals with impunity or making them leave the track on purpose.

    1. So you’ve made a comeback after Fernando’s comeback, eh?

    2. @jorge-lardone
      Stop being so sensationalist. You did it on another article on the same topic.

      No one is perfect in F1. For instance, please tell us about Hamilton’s honesty at Australia 2009, or his honour in Monaco 2013 or 2021.

  11. Hamilton was already doing a good enough job on his reputation before this.
    His disgraceful theatrics after the race didn’t help his cause.
    Saying he wasn’t aware that Max was taken to hospital confirmed he didn’t ask for any updates on his situation. Maybe he was aware and besides, Wolff knew and as his team leader he should have advised him to tone down his celebrations and show some sportsmanship.

    1. your comment reads like “I fill find anyway to keep Max in the right. Cry Cry.”

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        30th July 2021, 9:16

        agreed.

    2. “..disgraceful theatrics..” Celebrating an 8th Home GP win. Hyperbole at its finest!
      Max will never get to win his home race 8 times but lets see the celebrations if he does it once!

  12. Hamiltons only reputation is that off a cheater and being unsportsmanlike
    – Deliberately misleading stewards (Australia – 2008)
    – Intentionally colliding with a competitor multiple times (Massa – 2011)
    – Accusing competitors of cheating (Rosberg – 2014)
    – Accusing his own team of sabotaging him (Malaysia – 2016)

    1. Exactly. I dont know what reputation they mean. You mean him driving off in the distance is the best car by miles for years and years. I cant recall Hamilton ever having been a good racer. He is fast, but accident prone when he really has to perform and not let the car do the work.

  13. Ofc mercedes welcomes the decision to reject the appeal, it favours them, can’t stand this team any more.

    1. Ditto RB. The difference is Merc have never stooped to these levels to get a driver an increased penalty!

  14. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    30th July 2021, 7:52

    Hamilton has done more than enough himself this year for me to have no respect for him anymore.
    His less than subtle whining and false claims of Red Bull cheating (with Mercedes supporting him) on rear wings and engine upgrade.
    Him blaming anyone but himself for his utterly poor performance in Monaco.
    Still not willing to accept blame for knocking his opponent into the barriers despite being penalized for it by the stewards even going as far he would again put his opponent in the barrier – I guess everything is allowed for Sir Lewis.
    For years asking he welcomes competition but as seen in 2016 and now in 2021 as soon as the competition gets even close you see the real ugly whining cheating Hamilton.

    1. did something go wrong in your childhood?

  15. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
    30th July 2021, 8:14

    This statement shows that everything done by Mercedes after the incident, including that recent new project of theirs, was only to shine a positive light on them. I think Verstpapen put it very well by stating that they ‘are showing how they really are’: a very poor loser of a company that forgot that they are a worldwide brand and not Hamiltons personal doormat.

    1. Seems Mercedes and their owners see it differently, but Barry knows what’s best for Mercedes.
      Take note Stuttgart!

    2. The board of Daimler Benz must be thrilled with Toto now he has closed the door to the hottest property in F1. Great strategic move from Toto. Real good thinking. And that does indeed not even mention the damage to the overall Mercedes Brand. What a cluster of errors from the Mercedes team this year. Not so graceful in defeat huh?

  16. Mercedes really is taking too far now. So they admit criticism of Lewis is not allowed. Overtaking him is not allowed. Mercedes has no place in modern F1. What an appalling team they have become. Arrogant, entitled and frankly just winning since they threw money around. Old economy at its best. I would never consider one of their products as the DNA of the company is questionable to say the least.

  17. And the Twilight Saga continues…

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