F1: $ 1.8 million to repair Verstappen's car after Hamilton crash

In the aftermath of the accident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, at the start of the Grand Prix at Silverstone, Helmut Marko, friend of energy drink magnate Dietrich Mateschitz and other mentor of the team, estimated at 750 000 euros the cost to remake the F1 of the current leader of the World Championship.

Summarize this departure in ONE word. # BritishGP 🇬🇧

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- CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) July 18, 2021

While the debate still rages between the two teams concerning this accident on the responsibility of the pilots, Christian Horner, the boss of Red Bull estimated in a press release that this accident had actually cost 1.8 million euros to the stable.

A blow, while the budgets of the stables are capped.

“Such an accident has far-reaching repercussions in an era of budget caps,” he adds.

In other words, these repairs could have consequences for the development of the car until the end of the season even if today it has a head start, including on Mercedes.

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- CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) July 18, 2021

Among the detractors of Red Bull, this exit of Christian Horner is part of the intoxication and the existing rivalry in the fight to seize the title of World Champion.

Since the start of the season, Mercedes has also had to rebuild Valtteri Bottas' car after his accident with George Russel.

Towards prosecution?

Beyond that, for Christian Horner, the pill of the celebration of Lewis Hamilton does not pass after his victory, at home, at Silverstone. "I am also always disappointed with the level of the celebrations right after the accident", explained Horner, adding: "The Mercedes team was aware of the seriousness of the accident as well as of the hospitalization of Max for examinations. . It is unimaginable not to inform your pilot of the situation, as well as to protect him in case of lack of moderation during the celebrations, especially when it was an incident for which he had been penalized. "

While the Red Bull team reserves the right to sue, the team assures they will be ready for the Grand Prix in Hungary.

“I spoke to Max on Monday morning and he felt like he traded with (heavyweight boxer) Tyson Fury,” added Christian Horner.

“He was downcast and bruised, but he was grateful to the medical team (…) and it is true that in true Max style, he is already trying to forget and focus on Hungary”.

"Hamilton was the aggressor on Sunday"

"The reality is that Hamilton faced their opponent in a car which is now competitive, and I agree that the two drivers need to be respectful of each other, but Hamilton was the aggressor on Sunday" , insists Horner.

A statement swept away with the back of the hand by Hamilton. “There really is no reason to whine. Everyone is free to make up their own mind about what happened and I don't really care what people actually think. I also do not intend to apologize to anyone for anything, we are here to race, ”he said, adding:“ I am not in charge. I agree with the marshals' decision, but I took my penalty and will continue to do my job as usual. "

For him, “what happened was an unfortunate episode, but as Charles Leclerc put it so well, it was a simple racing incident. These are things that happen, ”he continues. And it's true, these duels have always been a part of F1 history like the weapon passes between Senna and Prost. And that's what thrills fans.