Mercedes "antagonistic" but attack against Hamilton was not personal - Christian Horner

Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

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Mercedes "antagonistic" but attack against Hamilton was not personal - Horner

Horner was reacting to Mercedes' statement

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Friday 30 July 2021 14:01

Christian Horner has conceded to surprise by Mercedes' "antagonistic" statement after Red Bull's petition to review Lewis Hamilton's British Grand Prix penalty was rejected.

Red Bull presented what the team believed to be new evidence to the stewards in the hope of being granted an official review of the 10-second penalty given to Hamilton for being predominantly to blame for the crash that took Verstappen out of the race.

In the stewards' report following the hearing, it was revealed that allegations within Red Bull's document were "noted with some concern".

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Mercedes followed with a statement claiming there had been "a concerted attempt by the senior management of Red Bull Racing to tarnish the good name and sporting integrity of Lewis Hamilton".

Asked for his reaction to the comments, Horner replied: "I think the statement by Mercedes is a little antagonistic.

"But it has never been anything personal about a single driver, it is about the events that happened in a competition between two guys.

"It is not individual to any driver. If it was any other driver the reaction would have been identical.

"I was a little surprised by Mercedes comments but we have put that behind us and our focus is very much on track and trying to build on the momentum we had taken after the sprint race at Silverstone."

Red Bull would have taken "identical" approach with other drivers

In the initial aftermath of the incident, Hamilton was labelled as "dangerous", "desperate" and an "amateur" by Horner whilst Verstappen added he felt his rival was "unsportsmanlike and disrespectful" for his celebrations.

Despite such remarks, Horner added; "It is absolutely not a personal attack on Lewis Hamilton.

"Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion and everything he has achieved stands for itself. If it was any other competitor on the grid, we would have taken the same issue in the manner that we did.

"I think I am entitled to an opinion on that incident, as is everybody else and I think that at the time, emotions were running high.

"We had a driver that was needed to be taken to hospital for precautionary checks after an accident which would have definitely knocked out your average human being.

"We have lost a car under its entirety under a budget cap environment for something the stewards didn't deem to be Max's fault.

"There is nothing personal about it but even a seven-time world champion can sometimes make mistakes or misjudgments, that is just a fact in life.

"At no point has this been personal about Lewis and it would have been identical with any other driver and any other team on the grid."