Wolff reacts to unspoken comments by Jos Verstappen

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22 July 2021 at 11:19
Last update 22 July 2021 at 15:11
  • GPblog.com

Toto Wolff has been asked a few days after the British Grand Prix about the harsh statements of Jos Verstappen, of which has become clear in the meantime that this was never said.

Verstappen senior would have been furious with the Mercedes team boss and would have said that Wolff doesn't need to call them anymore for the time being. Jos himself says that he never said this but Wolff was already confronted with this in an interview with the German branch of RTL .

Wolff about Jos' statements

"A father rightly reacts very emotionally to this because his son has had a serious accident. From their perspective that is very understandable. You have to respect this emotional situation. The competition between Red Bull, their drivers and us has always been intense", Wolff says.

Not only Max Verstappen's father was pretty angry, also team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko expressed their displeasure. There was especially dismay about the fact that Hamilton and Mercedes celebrated the victory extensively, while Verstappen was still in the hospital for examinations. "The emotions are running high of course. I think if we had been on the other side, we would have looked at the situation in the same way," Wolff reported.

Mercedes knew about Verstappen's situation

So there is an understanding of the feeling that existed at Red Bull, but Mercedes do not agree with the deluge of interviews afterwards. "What we wouldn't have done - come out with personal accusations so quickly," says Wolff, who argues that they "knew at all times" that Verstappen had fared relatively well after the hard crash. "Horner had told Masi on the on-board radio that his driver had emerged from his wreckage unscathed, thank goodness, and that there were no injuries. We adapted our response to that."