Damon Hill has revealed what he would have done to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in the aftermath of their clash at the 2021 British Grand Prix.
The high-speed crash happened on the opening lap of the race after Hamilton attempted to pass Verstappen, who started on pole having won the Sprint race the day before.
The pair were close on the exit of Luffield where Hamilton tucked under the rear wing of Verstappen, before slingshotting to the inside as they approched the 180mph Corpse corner.
Verstappen was on the outside and turned into the corner, catching Hamilton’s front left which sent him off the track at high speed. The impact into the tyre barrier was at 51G at over 150mph, briefly knocking out the Dutchman, before he was airlifted to hospital as a precaution.
Hill cited the incident as an example of what should be done to prevent serious accidents at high speed, in the aftermath of Verstappen and Lando Norris’ spat at the Austrian Grand Prix when speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
Damon Hill offers his penalty solution for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton
Part of the reason why the two were racing so hard was down to the Sprint format, as Hamilton knew he needed to pass Verstappen on the opening lap to prevent him breaking his one-second DRS window.
Hill believes both should have exercised more caution at the high-speed circuit and suggested a harsh penalty after both blamed each other for the crash.
“It was way over the top. It was boiling over. Both drivers were very, very aggressive and a very serious accident happened. And that’s again where the FIA, if I had the power then and I was FIA steward, I would have said ‘Right, you guys stop it. Someone’s going to get hurt. Start from the back of the grid for the next Grand Prix,” said Hill.
“Because I honestly felt that strongly about the way they were racing. It was way over the top. It wasn’t clever and something. It was always going to end in tears.”
Silverstone and Austria similarities
It was Hamilton who was penalised by the stewards for causing the collision, after they found him to be “predominantly to blame for the incident.” However, there was much debate over whether Hamilton was entitled to be on the inside of the corner given Verstappen’s line.
Verstappen had defended hard in the preceding corners by darting across the track to stop Hamilton from overtaking, which ultimatly ended in them colliding.
Although the nature of the crash was different, the same thing happened in Austria between Verstappen and Norris, which was highlighted by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella after the race.
Former F1 team boss Ross Brawn, who worked with Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, believes Norris must adapt his driving when racing Verstappen.
The post 'If I had the power': Hill names drastic punishment Verstappen and Hamilton deserved after 2021 British GP appeared first on F1 Oversteer.