Schumacher Argues ‘Lewis Hamilton Is Not a Monarch’ After Toto Wolff Called For More Respect for Mercedes Star

Due to the massive stardom and records Lewis Hamilton has behind his name, the Mercedes star is easily one of the most respected drivers in the F1 fraternity. However, after the 2021 British Grand Prix incident, Hamilton’s name was brought to shame, to which Toto Wolff did not agree as he wanted more respect for the seven-time world champion. However, Ralf Schumacher believes Hamilton doesn’t warrant extraordinary respect as he is still a human being, not a monarch, despite all the accolades he has with him.

The 2021 Silverstone race saw a tremendous war of words after Hamilton and Verstappen collided. The two championship protagonists were wheel-to-wheel against each other until the Mercedes star’s left front knocked the Red Bull driver’s right rear.

This sent the Dutchman into the barrier at high speed, which was not only a big loss for him but also for Red Bull altogether. Following this, the Mercedes and Red Bull brigade began their blame game as the Austrian team held Hamilton as the culprit.

Whereas the Silver Arrows defended Hamilton and called it a racing incident. Furthermore, the two-time world champion was also furious at the British driver after he was seen celebrating the win at a time when Verstappen was in hospital.

Schumacher slammed Wolff over the Hamilton comments

Following the high-speed collision, Red Bull Racing and its team principal Christian Horner didn’t leave slamming the British driver. Horner said the move by the 38-year-old was desperate and amateurish.

Reacting to this, Wolff hit back at his Mercedes counterpart, saying Hamilton deserved more respect than that. This was something the former German driver did not take wisely as he went on to criticize the Silver Arrows boss.

Nevertheless, as per a report by F1 Insider, Schumacher empathized with Hamilton and tried to neutralize the criticism, “I think it’s terrible that you can’t talk about it openly. I also don’t know if it’s such a bad thing when Lewis’ action at Silverstone was described as amateurish.”

“After all, Lewis isn’t a monarch, he’s still a human being who goes to the toilet just like the rest of us,” further asserted the Sky Germany expert. Notably, Schumacher eventually blamed Hamilton for the crash with Max Verstappen.

Despite everything, things have come down between them as they are no longer the fiercest rivals in the sport. With the Milton-Keynes-based running riots, Mercedes are nowhere they were before.

Red Bull’s win, Mercedes’ loss

Following the conclusion of the 2021 F1 season, Red Bull faced no strong opposition from Mercedes. Furthermore, Wolff and Horner had no major fallout except the budget cap issue.

With the Silver Arrows’ main target being overcoming Aston Martin and Ferrari for the current season, they have little time to focus on Red Bull amid their own W14 problems.

Overall, the German team will look to improve their performances in the upcoming races as they look towards winning the 2023 British Grand Prix with Hamilton.