Horner defends Hamilton’s overtaking move on Vettel

After the German Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel did not hide his frustration towards Lewis Hamilton, who, benefiting from fresher tires, regained the lap he had lost due to a puncture at the beginning of the race. The German, who was fighting for victory at the time, did not hesitate to call the Briton’s maneuver stupid, further inviting him to show common sense.

Naturally, the McLaren-Mercedes team did not delay in responding through its director, Martin Whitmarsh: The drivers are there to fight. If that’s stupid, then I don’t know what isn’t. Lewis was faster [than Vettel, ed.], he overtook him and widened the gap, so I’m not really sure what’s stupid about that.

For his part, Lewis Hamilton assures that the German’s remarks do not upset him and returns the favor: “I suppose his maturity has come to light!” And the 2008 World Champion added in an interview with the British Daily Mirror: “I never give up, so I’m not going to ease off and let everyone pass me when I have the pace to overtake the guy in front of me. I don’t think I made any stupid decisions during the race. I had nothing to gain except to stay out of my teammate’s way.”

Sam Michael, sporting director of the English team, insists on this point: « Lewis came out [of the pits] and was fast. We told him that he had blue flags for Jenson and when you are presented with blue flags, you have two choices: either you let the car pass, or you significantly increase your pace. So we told him to accelerate and overtake Vettel, and that’s what he did. He didn’t block Vettel at all because Vettel couldn’t keep up with him. So it had no material impact on Vettel’s race and it’s completely legal. »

At Red Bull, while Christian Horner, the director of the Austrian team, understands his driver’s frustration, he can only defend Lewis Hamilton’s maneuver: « Obviously, a driver’s emotions are strong. It was an unusual situation because generally, when you lap a car, it doesn’t take it back. But Lewis had fresher tires. From Seb’s point of view, it affected his race, and it did, but it remained within the rules, and Hamilton did nothing wrong except help his teammate. If you look at the regulations, I don’t think there’s anything that prevents a driver from unlapping themselves. »

Indeed, article 20.5 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations does not stipulate that a lapped driver cannot un-lap themselves: « During the race, once a car is caught by another car that is about to lap it, the slower driver must allow the faster driver to pass at the first possible opportunity. If the slower driver does not let the faster driver pass, blue flags will be waved to indicate that they must let the following driver pass. » In the absence of any contrary indication, the McLaren driver was therefore fully within their rights, and the stewards did not find it necessary to open an investigation against the Stevenage native.

In any case, according to Fernando Alonso himself, the maneuver by the McLaren driver not only helped Jenson Button in his fight for second place, but it also gave an advantage to the Ferrari driver, even as the gap between him and Sebastian Vettel was closing tenth by tenth: « It’s frustrating because it cost us a second, and it’s a shame that Lewis also couldn’t un-lap himself to Fernando. If Fernando had lost a second as well, then it would have reset everything, but Lewis had the right to do it,” concluded Christian Horner.