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Red Bull group chief Christian Horner on Monday referred to as on Lewis Hamilton to think about altering his method to racing after knocking Alex Albon out of competition in Sunday’s action-packed Austrian Grand Prix. In the aftermath of a tumultuous 2020 season-opener held behind closed doorways on their dwelling Red Bull Ring monitor, Horner pointed on the defending champion’s behavior of tangling along with his London-born Thai driver and prompt he wanted to mirror on his racing type. It was the second collision between Mercedes’ six-time world champion and Albon in three races and resulted in a five-second time penalty for Hamilton that price him a podium end behind triumphant team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton was the central determine of the weekend in each method because the drivers didn’t unify in taking a knee to assist F1’s anti-racism stance throughout a muddled group gesture earlier than the race.
“Alex didn’t have the straight line speed, so he knew he had, with the grip advantage, to pass him in or out of a corner,” stated Horner, who added Hamilton owed Albon an apology.
“As far as he was concerned, the job was done. He was starting to look down the road towards Valtteri when Lewis put a wheel on the inside.
“So, I feel it’s extra maybe Lewis that the questions needs to be requested on what he would do in a different way.”
The pair were fighting for second place in the closing laps race, which saw only 11 finishers from 20 starters and three Safety Car interventions following spectacular crashes.
Hamilton’s defensive move pushed Albon into a spin from which he recovered, but later engine problems forced him to retire.
The stewards blamed Hamilton for the crash, but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said their decision was “not justified” and added the five-second penalty was unfair.
The pair had a similar collision in Brazil last year.
“Why Lewis wanted to stay a wheel in there, I don’t know,” said Horner.
“It’s clearly irritating for Alex that that is the second time in three races that this has occurred to him. It’s unlucky as I feel he had an opportunity to win.”
For Hamilton, it was a disappointing end to an intense weekend on and off the track during which he and Mercedes were protested against and penalised regularly.
Red Bull complained in vain against their Dual-Axis Steering (DAS) system on Friday and on Sunday bemoaned a stewards’ decision not to punish Hamilton for ignoring yellow flags in Saturday’s qualifying.
The second protest resulted in Hamilton being demoted to fifth on the grid instead of second only an hour before the race when he was the centre of attention as the drivers’ assembled to show their support for the sport’s anti-racism campaign.
Six drivers chose against taking a knee in a rather shambolic and dis-united gesture that saw Hamilton, in a Black Lives Matter t-shirt setting an example supported by 13 of his fellow racers.
Promoted
In the race, Bottas produced a flawless efficiency to assert his eighth profession victory with Charles Leclerc a stunned second for Ferrari forward of Lando Norris of McLaren who, at 20, turned the youngest Briton to assert a podium end and the third youngest of all time.
In a race of attrition, each Red Bulls failed to complete as Max Verstappen, who had profited from the pre-race protest to start out second on the grid, retired early on with engine issues.
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