Christian Horner: Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen clash at 2022 Brazil GP ‘very frustrating’

Red Bull boss Christian Horner called the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen incident at the 2022 Brazilian GP 'very frustrating'.

At the first safety car restart, Verstappen challenged Hamilton around the outside of turn 1. As both the drivers went into turn 2, Hamilton closed the door, which led to a collision between the two. Verstappen suffered from a broken front wing and was given a 5-second penalty, while Hamilton continued in the race.

Talking about the incident, Horner said that the incident was frustrating but was nothing more than a racing incident. He said:

"I thought he'd earned a bit more space than he was given. Lewis could have given him a bit more to work with, because he (Verstappen) was ahead going into the left hander (Turn 1). It's unfortunate, I think it's the only incident that Max has had this year. So unfortunately, Max was deemed at fault with the five-second penalty, which then just hurts our race even more. It was very frustrating."

He added:

"For us, it was just disappointing to get the damage and drop so much lap time, and that put Max very much on the backfoot. We were surprised by the penalty because he basically got it for a racing incident."

The race in Brazil was marred by the double world champion disobeying team orders that involved swapping positions with his teammate Sergio Perez.

Talking to Sky Sports after the race, Horner said that the situation between the two drivers was resolved and the team, including Verstappen, are committed in helping Perez finish in P2 in the championship. He said:

"We discuss these things internally. The drivers were very, very clear and for us, Checo is now tied on points with Charles; Ferrari didn't switch their cars around, and we go into Abu Dhabi as a team to do the very best for Checo to get that second place. Max will fully support that. The drivers have discussed it; they have shaken hands, and we are focused on that next race."

He added:

"We work as a team; we race as a team, and our objective and our priority is to see if we can get Checo to finish runner up in the Championship. It is something we have never achieved as a team before, and Max has given a commitment that we will be doing the best we can in Abu Dhabi to achieve that. It is a straight fight between Checo and Charles, and if Max can help in any way, he will do."

Ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP this weekend, Verstappen (429) leads his teammate Perez (290), who is tied with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

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"He didn't leave any pace" - Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton clash

Talking after the Brazilian GP, Max Verstappen gave his thoughts on the incident with Hamilton and said that the latter was not willing to give racing room. He elaborated:

"I went around the outside, and I immediately felt that he was not going to leave any space. So, I went for it. He didn't leave any pace, and I knew we were going to get together. It gave me five seconds and wouldn't have mattered anyway for my race because we were way too slow. I thought we could race quite well together, but the intention was not there today."

The race in Brazil was arguably the worst weekend for the Dutchman this season, finishing fifth, and he will hope to bounce back this weekend.