“It would open a Pandora’s Box” – Christian Horner and Toto Wolff have different views on the clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton during the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen avoided penalty from the stewards after clashing with eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton in Sao Paolo. For Red Bull boss Christian Horner, this is the appropriate decision, as a ruling against them would have led to them appealing against apparent indiscretions by their arch-rivals Mercedes.
“It would open a Pandora’s Box regarding a whole bunch of other incidents that happened in that race.
“I think the most important thing to do now is to focus on this race [Qatar GP].”
🚨 | Charles Leclerc has said he will adjust how he races wheel-to-wheel if Verstappen does not receive a penalty for his incident with Hamilton.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) November 18, 2021
Toto Wolff not surprised at no-penalty
Horner’s Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff claims they were not expecting a penalty for Verstappen, anyway. They were just looking to set the agenda for the last three races, which they have successfully done so. And despite the decision, Wolff is disappointment with how Verstappen clashed with Hamilton.
“We wanted to trigger a discussion around it because probably it will be a theme in the next few races and I think that objective is achieved. We didn’t really think it would go any further.
“I think what you see on the video is clear to everybody who has ever raced a car.
“Obviously, it is far away from any of the levels that any driver in Formula 1 can do. That corner was not meant to be a corner where he stayed on track and he didn’t mean to stay on track.
“That is my personal interpretation but I shouldn’t be judging anyone’s driving because if I could, I should be driving and not sitting in a chair making comments.”