Crimson Bull group chief Christian Horner on Monday known as on Lewis Hamilton to contemplate altering his strategy to racing after knocking Alex Albon out of competition in Sunday’s action-packed Austrian Grand Prix. Within the aftermath of a tumultuous 2020 season-opener held behind closed doorways on their house Crimson Bull Ring observe, Horner pointed on the defending champion’s behavior of tangling together with his London-born Thai driver and prompt he wanted to mirror on his racing fashion. It was the second collision between Mercedes’ six-time world champion and Albon in three races and resulted in a five-second time penalty for Hamilton that value him a podium end behind triumphant team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton was the central determine of the weekend in each manner because the drivers didn’t unify in taking a knee to help F1’s anti-racism stance throughout a muddled group gesture earlier than the race.
“Alex did not have the straight line pace, so he knew he had, with the grip benefit, to go him in or out of a nook,” mentioned Horner, who added Hamilton owed Albon an apology.
“So far as he was involved, the job was finished. He was beginning to look down the street in direction of Valtteri when Lewis put a wheel on the within.
“So, I believe it’s extra maybe Lewis that the questions ought to be requested on what he would do in a different way.”
The pair had been preventing for second place within the closing laps race, which noticed solely 11 finishers from 20 starters and three Security Automotive interventions following spectacular crashes.
Hamilton’s defensive transfer pushed Albon right into a spin from which he recovered, however later engine issues pressured him to retire.
The stewards blamed Hamilton for the crash, however Mercedes boss Toto Wolff mentioned their determination was “not justified” and added the five-second penalty was unfair.
The pair had an identical collision in Brazil final 12 months.
“Why Lewis wanted to stay a wheel in there, I don’t know,” mentioned Horner.
“It is clearly irritating for Alex that that is the second time in three races that this has occurred to him. It is unlucky as I believe he had an opportunity to win.”
For Hamilton, it was a disappointing finish to an intense weekend on and off the observe throughout which he and Mercedes had been protested in opposition to and penalised recurrently.
Crimson Bull complained in useless in opposition to their Twin-Axis Steering (DAS) system on Friday and on Sunday bemoaned a stewards’ determination to not punish Hamilton for ignoring yellow flags in Saturday’s qualifying.
The second protest resulted in Hamilton being demoted to fifth on the grid as a substitute of second solely an hour earlier than the race when he was the centre of consideration because the drivers’ assembled to indicate their help for the game’s anti-racism marketing campaign.
Six drivers selected in opposition to taking a knee in a moderately shambolic and dis-united gesture that noticed Hamilton, in a Black Lives Matter t-shirt setting an instance supported by 13 of his fellow racers.
Promoted
Within the race, Bottas produced a flawless efficiency to assert his eighth profession victory with Charles Leclerc a stunned second for Ferrari forward of Lando Norris of McLaren who, at 20, turned the youngest Briton to assert a podium end and the third youngest of all time.
In a race of attrition, each Crimson Bulls failed to complete as Max Verstappen, who had profited from the pre-race protest to start out second on the grid, retired early on with engine issues.
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