Adrian Newey recalls being furious at Lewis Hamilton for the Silverstone collision with Max Verstappen

Adrian Newey recently revealed that he was furious at Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton for his 2021 Silverstone collision with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. The opening lap crash at the 2021 British Grand Prix was a pivotal moment in the championship battle between the two titans.

The crash was the first time that the seven-time world champion showcased gloves off approach in his wheel-to-wheel racing against the Dutchman. The incident took the Red Bull driver out of the race after a 52G impact at the Corpes corner from the collision, while Hamilton secured another win in Silverstone.

Appearing on the High-Performance podcast recently, Adrian Newey spoke about his frustration and anger towards Lewis Hamilton for the crash.

He said:

"There was the Silverstone accident between Lewis and Max which I must admit, at the time, I was absolutely incandescent with Lewis because I felt it was deliberate professional foul. I think now with the benefit of hindsight and time then I think they had been banging wheels around the lap up to that corner," he said. (53:30)

"Lewis went through an opportunity but she thought was there misjudged it and we were lucky that Max didn't get hurt badly. So I understand sort of how it happened now perhaps better and I was probably a bit harsh I was too harsh on those um and that's perhaps one of the things," he added.

Adrian Newey reflects on feeling worried for Max Verstappen

Adrian Newey said it was 'horrible' for him to witness the collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 British GP as he was worried for the Dutch driver.

On the same podcast, Adrian Newey said:

"I mean they're horrible. I think Max's one at Silverstone is the last one where we thought is he okay? is he badly hurt in there? and then when he did come on the radio because he was so badly winded he was just grunting and you don't know what that means. (1:05:30)

"He was very sore he was he had quite a nasty concussion he was very sore for a week after but he was okay so those sorts of accidents still can happen," he added.

Max Verstappen was taken to the hospital after the crash for medical checkups and later claimed that he was disappointed with Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton's post-race celebration.

The two drivers had another crash in the season during the Italian GP when the Turn 1 collision took both of them out of the race. There were several controversial wheel-to-wheel racing incidents in the 2021 Brazilian GP and Saudi Arabian GP which finally culminated in the season finale in Abu Dhabi, with Verstappen taking the title on the final lap.