Red Bull stance on "gladiatorial" Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton clash questioned by Damon Hill

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Red Bull stance on "gladiatorial" Verstappen-Hamilton clash questioned by Hill

Reports suggested Red Bull could hire a lawyer over the British GP incident

Ewan Gale

Thursday 29 July 2021 08:00

Former F1 champion Damon Hill has questioned reported threats of legal action by Red Bull motorsports advisor Dr Helmut Marko after the clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone.

Red Bull has lodged a petition for the incident to be given a second look by the FIA after the team deemed the punishment handed to Hamilton for his part in the incident.

It was reported last week, however, that Dr Marko was pursuing legal action of the incident, with Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung quoting him as saying the lawyer "should check what you can do in such a situation within the framework of sports law".

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Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, 1996 world champion Hill queried the potential move on the F1 Nation podcast.

"Helmut Marko said... some sort of message was coming out saying he might be looking at some legal angle to this," said Hill.

"But I mean if you do that it is motorsport, where are you going to end up if you get lawyers suing each other for car crashes in motor racing? We will be tied up in red tape for the next 100 years.

"It is a problem that has been looked at. If somebody was to get hurt, is there a civil claim - or even a criminal one - to be looked at in our sport?

"My view has always been that you enter the arena and once you enter the arena, you have accepted the terms and the understanding there is in that arena as to how it is conducted.

"It is gladiatorial. Somebody is going to get hurt, whether it is emotionally or physically. These things are going to happen when you put cars on tracks, go that fast and get hot-headed young guys who want to be the best. It is going to happen.

"You have to say that nobody in that arena can complain about the outcome. You understand the terms when you enter that arena."

Newey will be "pissed off" over incident

In the fallout of the incident, Mercedes has offered up the views of Hamilton himself, team principal Toto Wolff, chief technical officer James Allison and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin in order to provide a rounded view from the team.

In contrast, Red Bull has only provided opinion from Christian Horner, aside from any personal interviews conducted by Dr Marko.

"I was tempted to phone Adrian Newey," added Hill.

"But I kind of know what his answer was going to be. He is going to be really pissed off. He is not happy about that at all."