Motor racing-Keep it clean, Brawn tells F1 rivals, but the fuse is lit

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) – Formula 1 motorsport director Ross Brawn has urged Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton not to let their title fight boil over after the two collided at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.

The clash on the first lap resulted in Red Bulls Verstappen falling and hospitalized for inspection, while Hamilton fought his way back after a 10-second penalty to win for Mercedes and narrow the gap at the front to eight points.

The afternoon ended with an argument and allegations, with Hamilton also being racially abused on social media channels.

“As always in these matters, there will be very different opinions, right and wrong,” Brawn said on Monday in a column for the official Formula 1 website.

“It is clear that we have been robbed of an exciting fight and nobody wants the championship to be decided by falls and penalties.

“I hope we can avoid these incidents in the future because I think we were denied a fantastic fight today.”

For some, what happened was an accident waiting for him, and also a game changer that ignited a fuse in the title fight between the sport’s most successful driver and his heir to the throne.

McLaren boss Zak Brown said in May that, in his opinion, it was “a matter of time” before both of them get tangled in the first corner and neither comes out.

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ Head of Track Technology, made a similar statement on Sunday.

It took until corner ninth at Silverstone and only Verstappen stopped, but the point was made.

Hamilton, seven-time world champion and now eight-time winner of his home race, has shown that he does not want to give in in an emergency.

“I think he (Verstappen) has been very aggressive this year and most of the time I had to give in and just avoid incidents with him and keep fighting later in the race,” said the 36 year old Briton.

The story goes on

“As soon as he is clear, they are too fast. So when an opportunity presents itself, I must try to take it. That’s what we’re doing out there. “

What happened on Sunday followed a pattern in tight title fights – reminiscent of the old elbow duels between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost or, more recently, Hamilton against Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton and Verstappen were flattering enough at the start of the campaign, but the tone is different after 10 races.

Hamilton and Mercedes highlighted Verstappen’s “aggressive” driving, while Red Bull accused the Brit of a dangerous and desperate move.

The big picture is that the heat has been turned up, the battle lines are drawn, and things are likely to get a lot livelier.

Hamilton hoped that they would still find “the best balance” and give each other “space and respect …”

History shows that the more at stake, the more likely tempers and rivalries will boil over.

Hamilton wants the eighth record title, one more than Michael Schumacher, and the 23-year-old Dutchman Verstappen wants to become the first champion in his country.

Neither of them will blink or flinch, two of the mentally toughest and most determined drivers in a fight all of their own.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Christian Radnedge)

source https://outdoorsportsnews.com/motor-racing-keep-it-clean-brawn-tells-f1-rivals-but-the-fuse-is-lit-2/