Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he is “ready” to welcome a more intense rivalry with Red Bull and Max Verstappen after the British Grand Prix.
After some minor incidents in the first nine races, the two championship contenders had their first coming together on track at Silverstone, with Lewis Hamilton taking out Verstappen on Lap 1 at Copse corner.
Despite being given a 10-second penalty by the stewards, the seven-time world champion was able to recover and claim his eighth home race win after passing Leclerc late on.
But the fallout has been significant with Red Bull slamming Hamilton and Verstappen accusing the Briton of unsportsmanlike behaviour.
“This championship was always very intense,” Wolff told Crash.net post-race.
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“We are fighting with everything we have in order to hold on to it whilst knowing that we are not performing as well as Red Bull and Honda.
“Therefore, we have had big points losses in the past and here we scored big points so that is always balancing itself out.”
With tensions now higher than at any point this season, some might call for cooler heads to prevail to avoid more incidents like this going forward.
“Why? You would love that, no? It’s a lot to write about! I’m ready, let’s go for this,” Wolff replied.
Verstappen and Hamilton collide!
The title rivals come together at Copse, pitching Verstappen into a high-speed crash.
The Dutchman was able to walk away but he has been taken to hospital for precautionary checks#BritishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/ol1s9dRJoa
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021
The Mercedes chief also continued to defend Hamilton for his role in the incident, insisting Verstappen was also significantly to blame.
“It is a situation that I guess we all have seen in the past when great drivers race with each other,” he said.
“When nobody is prepared to give in, then these kind of situations can happen. But for me, it takes two to tango.”