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Reuters

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Reuters

Lewis Hamilton probably caused one of the biggest accidents of the 2021 season with Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen at Silverstone, and consequently paid a heavy on-track penalty. However, that did not stop the Briton from winning the race in front of his energetic home crowd.

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Hamilton was ecstatic after bringing his car home in P1, with the entire Mercedes crew showing off celebrations all around. And on the other end of the pit lane were Red Bull, completely agonized with the fact that they lost a hefty lead to their rivals on both the constructors’ table and drivers’ table.

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What’s more, there were major concerns over Verstappen’s health, with the Dutchman having suffered a 51G crash around Copse. Almost a week has gone by and it looks like the wound hasn’t healed yet for Red Bull’s boss, Christian Horner.

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The Briton revealed that Red Bull are pushing for a much bigger penalty for Hamilton.

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What did the Red Bull boss say?

Writing to Red Bull, Horner opened up that the seven-time world champion escaped with a light penalty at Silverstone. Hence, Red Bull are collecting evidence to demand the stewards to review the British GP incident.

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It is no secret that we felt at the time, and still feel, that Hamilton was given a light penalty for this type of incident,” he said.

Given the severity of the incident and the lenient penalty, we are reviewing all data and have the right to request a review. We are therefore still looking at the evidence and considering all of our sporting options,” the Red Bull team principal added.

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Read More: What are Black Flags in F1 and Has a Driver Ever Been Black Flagged?

How the penalty played out for Lewis Hamilton

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Most of the drivers restarted the race on medium tires, including the then race leader, Charles Leclerc, and the second-placed Hamilton. The Monegasque defended quite impressively, flaunting Ferrari’s pace on the straights. Amidst the battling arrived a 10-second penalty for Hamilton.

However, instead of the much-anticipated stop-go penalty, it was a time penalty. Hence, Hamilton managed to elasticize his gap to the cars behind him quite significantly before pitting for a set of hard tires.

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After stalling his car in the pit box for 10 seconds, the Briton re-joined the track in P4, with the first obstacle being Lando Norris. And Hamilton barely showed any difficulty, as he pulled off a straightforward move.

The Mercedes team orders promptly came into play, with Valtteri Bottas paving his way for his teammate. The final target was Leclerc, which wasn’t as tough either.

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Mercedes showed serious pace on hard tires during practice sessions and the very same tire helped Hamilton hunt down Leclerc with over 2 laps in hand. That is how Hamilton orchestrated the heist at Silverstone.

However, his celebrations might not last long, with Red Bull set to deny Mercedes the hard-earned 25 points. So, will the stewards give out a verdict in favor of the Milton Keynes outfit?

Watch Story: F1 Drivers Fighting on Track

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Rohit Kumar

1,915 Articles

Rohit Kumar is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. He has been an ardent follower of the racing series since 2007, with his love for the sport coinciding with his love for Kimi Raikkonen. He is also an ardent follower of Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin Racing. With his favorite track being Hockenheim and his favorite turn being Eau Rouge (Spa, Belgium), Rohit is a strong advocate for bringing back the pre-turbo-hybrid era V10 engines and their screams. Apart from being an author, Rohit is also a trained tennis player, having qualified for national tournaments. He has been a part of the Estilio Academy for over a decade.

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