On Thursday, ahead of the Hungaroring race weekend in Hungary, Red Bull Racing will protest against the penalty Lewis Hamilton received for the tap he gave the Dutchman at Silverstone. But will an incident involving Verstappen earlier this year throw a spanner in the works?
Mongo
The German Motorsport-total.com thinks that a situation that the Red Bull driver was involved in at Portimao may well have a retrospective negative impact in terms of the protest. "In the second free practice session for the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen was involved in a collision with Lance Stroll that has parallels with the crash at Silverstone. In Portimao, Verstappen was not the outside driver, but the inside driver. In other words, in the position, Hamilton was in at Silverstone."
The German medium continued, "Verstappen had little understanding at the time for the behaviour of Stroll, who moved to the inside, just as he did at Silverstone. On the pit radio, he raved: 'Is this guy blind? What the hell is wrong with him? Jesus! (LAUGHS) What an idiot. My car's damaged. What a mongo, I swear.'"
Does protest make sense?
It is therefore thought at the German colleagues that the protest will achieve little for Red Bull Racing: "Given the precedent of Portimao, it would be incomprehensible to many observers that Red Bull's protest is accepted on Thursday and that Hamilton might be punished even more severely. Because even though it was a free practice and a race at Silverstone: The circumstances of the accident are very similar."