Marko wants Hamilton suspended, Red Bull could take further action

F1 2021’s two title protagonists came to blows on the opening lap of the British GP at Silverstone as they battled hard for the lead.

Hamilton attempted a dive down the inside of Verstappen into Copse but tagged the rear-end of his main rival’s car, sending him into a high-speed, 51G impact with the barriers.

Hamilton was hit with a 10-second time penalty for the incident but still went on to claim an eighth British GP win to cut Verstappen’s championship lead down to eight points.

Speaking to Sky Germany, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko argued that Hamilton should face a ran ban for his part in the coming together.

"You can't do that with the normal sporting code,” Marko said. “I don't know what the maximum penalty would be, but such dangerous and reckless behaviour should be punished with a suspension or something.

"If a competitor massively touches our rear wheel with his front wheel, then that's no longer a racing accident in the fastest corner of the course. That is negligent to dangerous behaviour."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said his side will consider its options before launching any kind of protest.

“I think there are rights available to us but unfortunately the stewards are pretty set in their decision and it’d be meaningless to take things further, but we’ll look at it, talk it through shortly, and that would be my initial reaction,” he explained.

Horner added: “Of course you’re putting your fellow competitors safety at jeopardy and I think a move at that corner, every grand prix driver knows, is a massive massive risk.

“You don’t stick a wheel up the inside there without there being huge consequence. We’re lucky today, after a 51G accident, that there wasn’t someone seriously hurt.

“What I’m most angry about is just the lack of judgement and desperation in this move, that thankfully we got away with today. But had that been an awful lot worse a 10-second penalty would have looked pretty menial.”

Horner also confirmed Verstappen’s car was completely “written off” in the crash.

"It is a very expensive accident, written off the car,” he said. "We still lead both world championships but with a much diminished lead.

“It has been a very frustrating day after such a strong day yesterday and I think that probably added to Lewis’ desperation, having lost the sprint race, he was pretty wound up and probably why he made an ill-judged move.”