JUST ONE OF THEM RACIN' DEALS.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. It's no surprise that legions of racing experts - aka the Twitter hordes with a keyboard - were quick to weigh in about the incident at Copse between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on Lap 1 of the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Blessed with no experience and full of knee-jerk reactions, these "experts" were quick to condemn Hamilton as deserving of full blame and equally quick to absolve Verstappen of any wrongdoing. As with most racing incidents, Sunday's coming together of Hamilton and Verstappen was far from being cut and dried; instead, it lives in that gray area that can be endlessly debated, that is until the next on-track incident. 

Lest we forget, these were the two principal combatants for the 2021 World Driving Championship, and at this point in the season there's no quarter asked or given. Verstappen's increasingly aggressive on-track behavior this season has been well-documented. It was clear that the battle between Max and Lewis was coming to a head, and it boiled over in full measure at Copse. From Verstappen's perspective, he commented on social media: “Obviously disappointed with being taken out like that. The penalty given does not help us in any way and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations after the race while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behaviour but we move on.” So there's that. From Hamilton's perspective: “When someone’s just too aggressive these things are bound to happen. I hope he’s ok because of course I would love to have a wheel to wheel battle for the whole race. I enjoy racing with him and I’m looking forward but I will never back down from anyone and I naturally would not be bullied into being less aggressive. I think today, this weekend, we needed the points and there was a gap. He left a gap and I went for it.”

I have no experience in the subject matter; flogging my go-kart and dabbling in Formula Ford does not constitute a platform of expertise. That, of course, didn't stop the Twitter hordes from weighing in. I will defer to the racers who know of such matters instead: 

"Nothing intentional or nothing that any of the two drivers did wrong in my opinion. That was an unlucky moment." -Fernando Alonso 

"I think it’s a racing incident. It is quite difficult to put the blame on one or the other." -Charles Leclerc

"Hamilton could never make the apex as Max had pushed him right into the old pit wall, so he was off line. You also don’t/can’t turn in when you haven’t cleared the other car. Asking for trouble..." -David Hobbs

"I seem to remember in Austria a couple of years ago Charles Leclerc being literally pushed off the road by his pursuer. Hmm... now it’s a dangerous dangerous move???" -David Hobbs

As you might have guessed by now, I consider Sunday's contretemps a racing incident, pure and simple. There's one thing about this incident that I will weigh in on, however, and that is the chorus of racial hatred directed toward Lewis Hamilton after the race on social media and other outlets. The way this man has been treated throughout his career has been disgraceful, despicable and disgusting. I am glad the entire F1 community including the FIA and the other F1 teams - including Red Bull Racing - condemned the hatred directed toward Lewis Hamilton:

“Formula One, the FIA and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team condemn this behavior in the strongest possible terms. These people have no place in our sport and we urge that those responsible should be held accountable for their actions. “Formula One, the FIA, the drivers and the teams are working to build a more diverse and inclusive sport, and such unacceptable instances of online abuse must be highlighted and eliminated.”

Red Bull also issued a statement criticizing the attacks on Hamilton: “While we may be fierce rivals on-track, we are all united against racism. We condemn racist abuse of any kind towards our teams, our competitors and our fans. As a team we are disgusted and saddened to witness the racist abuse Lewis endured yesterday on social media after the collision with Max. There is never any excuse for it. There is certainly no place for it in our sport and those responsible should be held accountable.”

Yes, it is simply unforgivable and inexcusable. And it echoes the treatment directed toward the players of color on the British national soccer team after their loss a couple of weeks ago. 

On track, the incident between Max and Lewis was "just one of them racin' deals" as we like to say around here. Off track, what happened is a sad commentary about where we are today as a global society.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Silverstone, July 14, 1973. American Peter Revson (No. 8 Yardley Team McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV V8) on his way to winning the British Grand Prix, his first F1 win. Ronnie Peterson (No. 2 John Player Team Lotus 72E Ford Cosworth DFV V8) was second, and Denny Hulme (No. 7 Yardley Team McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV V8) finished third. The race was marred by a first lap accident triggered by Jody Scheckter (No. 30 Yardley Team McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV V8), who lost it coming out of Woodcote, smashed into the inside wall and bounced back on the track right in front of half the field. The incident knocked nine cars out of the race and ended the career of Andrea de Adamich (No. 9 Ceramica Pagnossin Team MRD Brabham BT42 Ford Cosworth DFV V8) who suffered a badly broken leg after slamming into the wall. It took medical officials one hour to remove him from the car. There would be a 90-minute delay as the carnage was cleared, with the race restarted afterwards.