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Wolff apologises after Bottas 'takes out' Verstappen

Wolff apologises after Bottas 'takes out' Verstappen
© Reuters
"Taken out by a Mercedes - again."

"Taken out by a Mercedes - again."

That was how Max Verstappen reacted on Sunday after losing the lead of the world championship to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in Hungary.

Some publications published post-race comments by the Red Bull driver that were strewn with expletives.

"What kind of reaction do you expect?" he said. "In the last two weeks, there have been too many strange situations in which we lost a lot of points."

Indeed, just two weeks after the Silverstone saga kicked off, it was another highly tumultuous F1 race, this time on the twisty Hungaroring circuit near Budapest.

New championship leader Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas admitted he made a mistake on the slippery run to turn 1 which took out both Red Bulls.

"I think that's fair enough," said the Finn was asked if it was his fault.

"Sure, I should have braked earlier, but it's not easy to assess," he told Sky Deutschland.

"It's not like I did it on purpose."

After the high controversy surrounding Hamilton's contact with Verstappen at Silverstone, resulting in the Red Bull driver's brief hospitalisation, the latest incident is sure to only raise tensions between the title-charging teams even more.

"Bottas has done a good job for Mercedes today," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, with Sergio Perez also taken out by the second Mercedes driver.

When asked if he would like to apologise on behalf of Bottas, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff answered: "I'm doing that in public - we're sorry."

Horner, however, reacted: "Is he going to pay the bill?

"Ultimately, this is racing, and Toto wasn't driving the car. I'm sure he (Bottas) wasn't supposed to cause a crash.

"But for us, the consequences are severe, and given we're in the budget cap era now, maybe the FIA needs to look at that."

Indeed, Horner said Perez's engine was damaged in the incident, while Honda ultimately had to replace the engine that was fitted to Verstappen's crashed car at Silverstone.

According to sources, the early running in Hungary later revealed a minor crack in Verstappen's engine that steadily got worse.

There is no immediate penalty for the Dutchman, but 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said a ten-place drop later in the season for needing to use a fourth engine is now inevitable.

"That is a significant disadvantage in the world championship fight against a Hamilton as strong as this," he said.

In Hungary, though - although Hamilton has raced 6 points ahead of Verstappen - the damage could have been much greater for the Red Bull star.

"Thankfully, Mercedes did a howler strategically today, and Fernando Alonso looked like he was driving for Red Bull which limited the damage," said Horner.

Finally, Hamilton admitted he thinks he is still suffering the effects of so-called 'long covid', after requiring medical attention for dizziness immediately after Sunday's Hungarian GP.

"I've been fighting it all year, really, with my health. It's still a battle," he said.

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Lewis Hamilton in action during the British Grand Prix on July 18, 2021
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Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
ChinaChina24151453
United StatesUnited States20241660
JapanJapan175931
AustraliaAustralia1431431
Olympics flagOlympic Athletes from Russia12191344
Great BritainGreat Britain10101232
Today's Olympic highlights header

Monday's key events


ATHLETICS
· There are no Brits in the women's 100m hurdles final, but Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, fresh from breaking the Olympic record in the semis, will hope to pip world record holder Kendra Harrison to gold (3.50am)
· The women's 5000m final also has no Team GB representation, but two-time world champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya will be looking to add an Olympic gold to her list of honours (1.40pm)

SAILING
· The women's skiff 49er FX (6.33am) and men's skiff 49er (7.33am) come to their conclusion, with Team GB involved in both medal races

FOOTBALL
· A place in the women's gold medal match is up for grabs, starting with an all-North American semi-final between United States and Canada (9am)
· Australia, who edged past Team GB's in a seven-goal quarter-final thriller, take on Sweden in the second semi-final (12pm)

CYCLING
· The track cycling schedule gets underway, with Team GB holding a particular interest in the team pursuit qualifying. Laura Kenny is part of the women's team (7.54am), while the men's team includes Ed Clancy (9.02am)

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
· The Gadirova twins Jessica and Jennifer will both take part in the women's floor final as they look to add to their team bronze (9.57am)

WEIGHTLIFTING
· Newly-crowned European champion Emily Campbell flies the flag for Great Britain in the women's +87kg, but faces stiff competition for medals from China's Li Wenwen and New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard (11.50am)

HOCKEY
· The women's hockey quarter-finals begin, with Team GB last up against Spain (1pm)

> Today's schedule in full
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