“They could have imposed the same penalty”– Christian Gorner argues that the FIA could have penalised Lewis Hamilton too.
In the crash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the latter got penalised by the FIA. However, Christian Horner accepts the verdict against his driver; he is not satisfied with it being imposed on only one party.
He argued that even Hamilton could have been given a similar penalty, as the Briton also kept the things on edge to retain his position ahead of Verstappen.
“Both drivers knew they needed to be ahead because of the difficulty to overtake. Max was keen to seize the momentum and Lewis was eager to retain track position,” wrote Horner.
“It was an awkward shunt, but both drivers were instantly able to confirm they were okay. With Lewis trying to reverse and get back in the race, even the medical car didn’t see the need to deploy.”
“I’m grateful the Halo did its job. I think even the most vocal of doubters have now changed their minds about it. I still share the same belief today – both played a part in it, and it is difficult to apportion blame to one side more than the other.
“If the FIA wanted to make a statement, they could have imposed the same penalty on both drivers – but the fault was deemed to be more on Max’s side and, because he didn’t finish the race, the only option was to give him a grid penalty, which we accept.”
The Championship intensifies
With the last phase of the season about to begin, there is still no idea which driver has the edge over the other, and the drivers’ championship is still in a deadlock.
It only remains to be seen how the grid penalty held by Verstappen will alter the course of the season, and do not forget the engine penalties looming over both drivers.
