Those who lay blame need to recognize the importance of wheel-to-wheel battles. Without them, the essence of Formula 1 is lost.
Lewis Hamilton won the 2021 British Grand Prix at Silverstone with a fantastic drive that included a late overtake on Charles Leclerc. However, one moment has everybody talking–the lap 1 collision between Lewis Hamilton and his main F1 rival, Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen started on pole position with Hamilton lining up alongside him on the grid. The two drivers battled each other from the start, almost making contact down the Wellington straight and into the turn 6 Brooklands corner. Then, they collided as Hamilton attempted a brave overtaking maneuver into the fast Copse corner.
The contact forced Verstappen to crash out of the race. Although he lost a place to Charles Leclerc in the aftermath of the Verstappen incident, Hamilton continued. A red flag was brought out to pause the race while track marshals repaired the heavily damaged barrier into which Verstappen had crashed.
Much debate followed. Was this a racing incident with neither driver at fault? Or had Hamilton caused the crash by being reckless in attempting to pass? Race stewards decided that Hamilton warranted a 10-second time penalty that he would serve in his mandatory pit stop. The debate then moved onto whether this was a sufficient punishment given the circumstance.
As a Formula One fan, I think this is purely a racing incident between two great rivals battling each other in a tense championship fight. Neither driver was willing to concede anything to the other. What I call ‘hard racing’ is exactly the type of wheel-to-wheel combat that fans want to see and–I might add–have been longing to see.
Overtaking moves carry the risk of contact, and we have seen Verstappen and Hamilton battle each other numerous times already this season. On every other occasion–whether in Bahrain, in Portugal, or Barcelona–these drivers have avoided contact. Sunday at Silverstone was different.
Throughout the history of Formula One, head-to-head battles are moments that live the longest in fans’ memories. Nigel Mansell overtaking teammate Nelson Piquet to win the 1987 British Grand Prix is a case in point.
Some of these battles end with the overtake being successful, but they also bring other outcomes, like when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost collided at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1989 and again in 1990. The fear? Every failed overtake will be punished by a penalty to the driver who is attempting the pass. Drivers can be unwilling to take the risk for fear of punishment. When that happens, Formula One loses its essence. It will no longer be the pinnacle of motor racing, and fans will no longer love the sport the way they do now.
Whatever your opinion of the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen last Sunday, wheel-to-wheel battles must be encouraged. And when that happens, the hope is that both drivers will continue in the race, ready to do battle again.
My hope–and I believe the hope of the majority of F1 fans–is that we’ll see many more great racing fights between Verstappen and Hamilton. Nothing less serves the sport of Formula 1 racing.
