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A furious Christian Horner has branded Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix “hollow” after he triggered a 51G crash for Max Verstappen.
The championship leader crashed out of the race on the opening lap following contact with his title rival at Copse, his Red Bull team boss revealing the extent of the impact while lambasting the eventual grand prix winner.
“It shouldn’t be like that, to be honest with you,” Horner told Sky Sports.
“I mean, Max has incurred a 51G accident.
“Lewis Hamilton is a [seven]-time world champion, he shouldn’t be making manoeuvres like that. It’s unacceptable.
“The biggest result for us today is that he [Verstappen] was uninjured,” he added.
“He’s having to go to hospital for precautionary checks after a 51G accident, so I hope Lewis is very happy with himself.”
A former racer himself, Horner was critical of the move, reasoning Hamilton was never in position to make it stick.
“He’s stuck a wheel up the inside in a corner that you just, no, you don’t do that,” he said.
“You just don’t don’t stick a wheel up inside at Copse.
“In that circumstance, he was nowhere near ahead,” he added.
“It was contact, left-front on right-rear, and the speed that they’re travelling, it’s one of the fastest corners in the championship.
“Lewis has got more than enough experience to know that that’s unacceptable.
“I’m just very disappointed that a driver of his calibre should make such a move today. It’s dangerous.
“It looked desperate and he’s put a competitor, thank goodness uninjured, but he’s put him in hospital.”
Hamilton was awarded a 10 second penalty for his part in the incident, which he duly served at his pit stop.
Running second at the time behind Charles Leclerc, he fell to fourth behind Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas as a result before charging back through to steal the win in dramatic fashion.
Of the penalties available to the stewards, that dished out to Hamilton was on the lighter end of the spectrum.
In Horner’s view, it doesn’t fit the crime given his star driver failed to see the flag and dropped 25 points to his Mercedes rival.
“He’s ended up winning the race wasn’t much of a penalty,” he observed.
The Red Bull boss also offered further insight into Verstappen’s condition, revealing that the 23-year-old remained conscious throughout the high speed impact.
“He was conscious throughout, he was very heavily winded,” Horner said.
“It’s a hell of a shunt, probably the biggest of his career and totally unnecessary.
“He’s gone to gone to the hospital, and thankfully, he got out of the car unaided.
“He’s battered and bruised, but thankfully he’s okay. That’s the biggest result today.”
Hamilton now trails Verstappen by eight points in the drivers’ championship, while Red Bull’s advantage at the top of the constructors’ contest has narrowed to just four points.
Formula 1 next heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 30-August 1.
