Adrian Newey has recalled his concern over the “horrible” incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
Newey, who will formally leave Red Bull for a new role at Aston Martin in March, said that the crash left him fraught with concern on the pit wall that the Dutchman, who went on to win his first title the same year, was seriously injured.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Newey recollected the moment that the pair touched at Copse corner, sending the Red Bull skidding into the tyre wall at high speed.
“I mean, they’re horrible [those sort of incidents], they really are.
“I think Max’s one at Silverstone was the last one where we thought, ‘Is he okay? Is he badly hurt in there?’
“And then when he did come on the radio, because he was so badly winded, he was just grunting, and you don’t know what that means.
“He was very sore. He had a quite nasty concussion. He was very sore for a week after, but he was okay.
“So those sorts of accidents still can happen, and do happen. The one at Spa in the Formula 2 race with Anthoine [Hubert], was horrific, and it’s never going to be 100 per cent safe.”
Mercedes conveys ‘regret’ over handling of Verstappen shunt
After the race, many in Red Bull’s camp took exception to the attitude from the Mercedes team, which they believed was unsympathetic to Verstappen’s situation.
Speaking to PlanetF1, Bradley Lord, the team’s Chief Communucations Officer , spoke of his contrition when reflecting on the incident now.
“If we were to talk something we regret, I think, having taken the word of a member of the Red Bull team – and therefore taken a little for granted – Max’s condition after his shunt at Silverstone in 2021,” he said.
“I think how we were perceived to handle that aftermath was a point at which that relationship in that season soured quite dramatically.
“We could have handled that in a different way that would have been more reflective of the concern we had for Max’s well-being at that point in time, regardless of our view of the incident and the rights and wrongs of it.
“There was that side of things, and then to have, albeit unintentionally, antagonised the relationship, and the relationship with the fan bases in quite an extreme a way as it happened.
“That’s probably the moment. If we could go back in time and change it, I think we would change our responses and what we did at that point in time, around that afternoon.”
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