F1 | Hamilton: I wouldn’t change the move on Verstappen and “for the first time I didn't stand alone” against racial hate post Silvestone
Ahead of the Hungarian GP Hamilton talks about his collision with Verstappen in Silverstone and the wave of support he received from the F1 world after being racially abused.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s collision in Silverstone raised great controversy over the last two weeks, with Red Bull’s request to review the penalty given to the Brit being rejected by FIA just this afternoon.
And ahead of the Hungarian GP Hamilton has talked again about the move he made at Copse that cost Verstappen a DNF.
"In terms of the move, I would do the move exactly the way I've probably done it and I did it last [time]," he explained.
"In terms of how I've reviewed it and analysed, from all my experience, and my experience obviously over the years speaks for a lot, I wouldn't change it."
Regarding the differences between the crash with Verstappen and the way he overtook Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, he said: "I definitely can explain but I'm not going to explain. I've been racing for 20 and God knows how many years.”
"I know how to navigate through corners and [make] overtaking manoeuvres, and so I won't waste my energy trying to explain it. But it's definitely going to be difficult for people to fully understand."
Acknowledging Verstappen's rather annoyed comment on Mercedes’ podium celebrations, he explained: "I don't believe our behaviour was disrespectful."
He also argued that at the time he didn’t know that Verstappen had been taken to the hospital for further examinations after the crash.
"But as I said, it's one thing knowing and then celebrating what happened, and one thing not knowing and celebrating. And as I told you I wasn't aware.”
"But it's my home grand prix, and we worked incredibly hard for who knows how long to get a result like that,” he continued. "It wasn't like an intentional celebration. It was just the joy of seeing so many people celebrating being together and that's the natural emotion, I'm not going to hide my emotions. And it was an amazing feeling to see so many people. "
"I did give Max a call after the race to just check he feels okay and let him know that the respect is still there," he said. "Perhaps it is not reciprocated, but that's okay."
During today’s FIA press conference Hamilton also talked about the racial abuse he received online in the aftermath of the crash.
“What I would say is that it was amazing to see the support from the sport, from my team, and from some of the drivers.”
F1, FIA and Mercedes’ joint statement, released to condemn the hate wave, was followed by messages of support from the other teams and some drivers. It’s not the first time the World Champion has been racially abused and “when it happened in 2007, no-one ever said anything.”
“I felt for the first time that I didn't stand alone in the sport. Because for the other years, or the other 27 or whatever years I've been racing, no-one would ever say anything.”
“Of course we can’t condone that, and there's no room for that sort of abuse. But if I have to be on the receiving end of that in this industry for people to become aware, then that's part of my journey, that's why I'm here,” he concluded.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 29, 2021
