Mercedes believes that the red flag saved Hamilton from retirement
The team believes that without the race interruption, Lewis Hamilton would not have been able to reach the finish line following his accident with Max Verstappen.
During the first lap of the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided at Copse corner. This accident forced the Dutchman to retire as he had a violent crash and hit the tire wall. According to information provided by Christian Horner, the impact was 51 G. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, was able to resume the race, but with a damaged Mercedes.
Initially, the Safety Car took to the track before the red flag was deployed, so that the marshals could clear the wreckage and repair the tyre wall. Once the race was neutralized, Mercedes was able to identify damage to the left front rim (the one that touched Max Verstappen) and replace it, as the rules allow.
After the race, Andrew Shovlin, the track engineering director of the German team admitted that it was impossible for the team to assess the extent of the damage on the silver arrow on the seven-time world champion and believes that retirement would have been likely if the race had not been interrupted.
We broke the rim where we made contact on the front left, so there would have been retirement if there hadn’t been a red flag. But the rest of the damage was actually remarkably minor. There was a tire temperature sensor that had come loose and was flapping around in all directions but, surprisingly, it’s the least important piece of the front wing and it’s the only one that broke. », he says.
Despite a damaged Mercedes and a 10-second penalty in the pits, Lewis Hamilton was more motivated than ever to go for the win, overtaking Charles Leclerc three laps from the end. The Briton won for the 99th time in his career, the 8th at Silverstone.
