"Max Verstappen has gotten away with a lot of maneuvers": When Toto Wolff gave his take on the shunt involving Lewis Hamilton and the Dutchman

In 2021, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that Max Verstappen had gotten away with a lot of maneuvers, as he analyzed the infamous Silverstone incident between Lewis Hamilton and the Dutchman. The latter went on to win the drivers' title amid one of the most fiercely contested title fights in recent history.

After almost seven years of total domination by Wolff's Mercedes and Hamilton, the F1 grid finally threw up an opponent to the seemingly invincible pairing. Max Verstappen in the Red Bull had come along to challenge the team from Brackley in the 2021 season.

This unfolded one of the most competitive seasons in F1's history, as the drivers went blow for blow on the track and the team principals traded punches off the track. As the rivalry grew, it took a sour turn at the British Grand Prix after the two main contenders collided, which ended Verstappen's race and gave Hamilton a 25-point gain.

On Season 4 of Netflix's Drive to Survive docu-series, Toto Wolff sat down to give his take on the incident. The German gave a cold analysis, questioned Verstappen's driving style, and insinuated that the Dutchman had it coming. Wolff said:

“There is obviously two perspectives, and I have a certain bias but Max has gotten away with lots of maneuvers where the other one has bailed out. It was clear that at a certain stage, enough is enough."

In the docu-series, Wolff could be seen talking to his team's staff after the race and could be heard saying:

"They were side by side and he didn’t give him room and Lewis was not there to bail out.”

Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, saw the incident differently, as footage of him talking to Race Director Michael Masi was also shown on the same episode of the series. The Briton said to Masi:

“Michael, look, that’s an enormous accident and it was 100% Max’s corner. So as far as I’m concerned, full blame lies on Hamilton.”

After the incident, Lewis Hamilton was given a 10-second stop/go penalty, which he subsequently served in the race. He then went on to regain his advantage and eventually overtook Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to win his home Grand Prix. The Silverstone incident remains one of the most contentious topics of discussion amongst F1 fans.

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Toto Wolff expressed regret over his reaction to 2021 Silverstone incident

Toto Wolff and Max Verstappen at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Speaking on a podcast in November 2024, Toto Wolff said that he could have reacted in a better way and shown more concern for Max Verstappen after the 2021 Silverstone incident. The Dutchman suffered a 51G impact and was taken to hospital after the crash.

After battling for the lead on the first lap of the race, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided at Stowe corner, sending the former into the barriers. Wolff explained on the High Performance podcast that his reaction came after hearing from a Red Bull engineer that Max was fine, but he expressed his regret over his reaction in hindsight, saying:

"I said before, I could have reacted in a better way, because I heard from one of the Red Bull engineers that he was fine in that respect. That was 'tick the box Max is fine', and we went on to win the race, and he didn't score. So that was important in the championship.

"I felt the driving at times was not clean, and in retrospect I should have just picked up the phone and called Jos [Verstappen] and said 'is he fine?'" the German added.

Max Verstappen went on to clinch the 2021 drivers' title after a season of more similar incidents and controversies, while Mercedes defended their constructors' title.