Toto Wolff insists 'it takes two to tango' as Hamilton penalty questioned

Hamilton en verstappen side to side — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

Wolff insists 'it takes two to tango' as Hamilton penalty questioned

Hamilton fought back from a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Verstappen to win at Silverstone

Ewan Gale

Sunday 18 July 2021 21:00

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Toto Wolff has insisted it takes "two to tango" as he questioned the FIA's decision to penalise Lewis Hamilton for his lap one collision with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton took his scored his eighth victory at Silverstone to close within seven points of F1 championship rival Verstappen with the Dutchman retiring after the pair collided at Copse.

The Mercedes driver was handed two penalty points and a 10-second time penalty for the crash, which saw Verstappen taken to hospital for precautionary checks but the fact he was penalised at all left Wolff cutting a disgruntled figure.

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"It always takes two to tango and these two are not giving each other an inch," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"It is a high-speed corner and that is why these things are nasty to look at.

"There is a clear regulation and that is something that is black-and-white on paper and as a racing driver you may have a different perspective in the car but you have to understand that if the front-axle is over the middle of the car outside, it is your corner.

"You can say, is that a corner that is equivalent to any other? Maybe not but again, an accident involves two drivers."

Wolff cites race-winning overtake as proof Hamilton was not at fault

Hamilton's race-winning move on Charles Leclerc in the closing stages was a similar move to the one that created the incident with Verstappen, although this time the seven-time champion was able to complete the move cleanly.

When put to him that the rule referred to described a driver must be able to make the corner on exit, Wolff argued: "No, it doesn't say that, it is who owns the corner, not only the exit and in the end, they were racing each other hard.

"You must take that and the stewards expressed the penalty, that was 10 seconds I guess because it was high speed, it is what it is.

"During the race, we saw overtaking there - Lewis on Charles was another example and I think you just need to give each other room, that would be my opinion.

"It is where you have the front wheel, the corner is yours, that is what it says and he was almost alongside."