Finally the Gloves Are Really Coming Off
Was Silverstone the moment the intensity of this rivalry went up a notch?
“How long do you think it’ll be until the gloves just come off?” asked an unnamed man behind the camera.
“I reckon about two o’clock Sunday afternoon in Austria,” answered Christian Horner. But with a playful smile, the Red Bull team principal wasn’t sounding totally convinced of his answer.
That was five minutes into Drive to Survive Season Three Episode Two.
Horner and his rival Toto Wolff are shown walking down a corridor later in that episode discussing Mercedes’ controversial Dual Axis Steering (DAS) system. There was clear respect from both sides of the discussion.
“Don’t take it personally,” warned Horner. “But we’ll protest (DAS) today.”
Wolff’s response was to ask Horner if the design is clever, to which the 47-year old answered: “It’s clever. Hats off, full respect.”
This was a great example of their playfully tense relationship.
Horner proclaimed multiple times during that season that Red Bull planned to “give him a harder time next season.” Despite that, he admitted he was looking forward to seeing the German once the sport came back from its lockdown enforced pause.
Even through into the 2021 season, where Red Bull have genuinely threatened to end Mercedes’ stranglehold on both championships, that relationship has remained relatively friendly.
There have been protests from both sides, but still they can afford to have a laugh post-race during a Sky Sports interview together.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have similarly been very civil all season. They’ve had their fair share of on-track battles, but they’ve kept it clean and fair. The two have always shook hands once a session is over and congratulated each other on their results.
However, at Silverstone, battle plans were drawn as the heat was turned up on the title fight.
Verstappen’s championship lead was cut short by 25-points following a collision between the two competitors. Hamilton received a 10-second penalty for the incident but still went on to claim victory, overtaking Charles Leclerc with three laps remaining.
The incident will likely be looked back on as the key moment in the campaign.
On one side, Red Bull felt massively aggrieved that their driver was forced out of the race — and even had to be taken to hospital to ensure there were no after-effects from the crash he had with the barrier.
Then, Mercedes threw all their might at the stewards and race director Michael Masi during the red flag stoppage that ensued as a result of the accident.
This played out live as both team principals went direct to Masi over the radio, which viewers heard as part of a new feature FOM introduced to broadcasting at Barcelona.
“Michael (Masi), this is Toto. Michael, I just sent you an email with the diagrams where the car should be, did you receive that?” asked Wolff.
The Mercedes boss did everything to defend his corner, including palling up with his client Esteban Ocon, and getting Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas to publicly query over the radio that the seven-time world champion shouldn’t get a penalty.
Meanwhile, Horner fought his own corner.
“Yeah, Michael, look. That corner (Copse), he was never anywhere near alongside. Every driver that’s driven at this circuit knows you do not stick a wheel up the inside at Copse,” claimed Horner.
“And it was 100 per cent Max’s corner, so as far as I’m concerned, full blame lays on Hamilton.
“I hope you’re going to deal with it appropriately,” was Horner’s final stern words to Masi.
Of course it could be argued that this is no different to when the teams argued over the rear wing flexibility earlier in the season, or DAS in 2020. But the tone of everything changed immediately in the aftermath of that incident.
It won’t end at Silverstone either. Horner continued to berate Hamilton’s driving following the race, and this will carry the narrative of Formula One right up until Hungary in little under two weeks’ time.
Horner branded Hamilton’s move as “desperate” and “amateur” after the race, later also claiming it was a “hollow victory” and that “I hope Lewis is happy with himself.”
These aren’t playful comments. There is a venom to those words, through tone, that conveys a seriousness and anger we’ve not seen from Horner, or Red Bull, in a very long time.
Verstappen’s reaction to the incident also indicates the aftermath of this isn’t over yet.
Of course, this isn’t the first time in F1 history that title rivals have clashed on track and off. It certainly won’t be the last either.
But the gloves might finally really be coming off. That’s what this rivalry needed to take a leap forward, to become one of the greats. The politics, the intrigue, the tactics, it all comes secondary to a rivalry where they just don’t plain get along.
