“Taking Into Account the Prejudice” – Wolff Explains ‘Tactical Foul’ Remark on Verstappen

The Italian Grand Prix is another talking point of the season so far, as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton crashed again. Team Principal, Toto Wolff had earlier suggested it was a tactical foul, but now has clarified his statements.

The Austrian boss stated he fully blames the Red Bull driver for the incident at Monza, that took him and Lewis out of the race. He further suggested that both drivers should leave space for each other and avoid another incident similar to this in the future.

Toto Wolff clears the air about blaming Max Verstappen for the crash

As the Dutch driver was doing his best to take the lead from Hamilton, Verstappen hit the kerb and launched his Red Bull on top of the Mercedes driver; both were out of the race. Hence, Wolff had earlier suggested that he thought Max should be held accountable. However, now he feels that there was some confusion with the regard to his remarks, and has decided to clear it.

As quoted from Formula Passion,  Wolff said, “I never said that the fault was completely Verstappen or that it was solely responsible for the accident. What I said is that it could be seen as a ‘tactical foul’ taking into account the prejudice that each of us must recognize.”

Formula One F1 – Dutch Grand Prix – Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands – September 5, 2021 Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff arrives at the circuit REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

“I don’t want to have other situations in the future where the only way to stop another driver from winning points is to throw him out. Both must leave space for the other,” the Mercedes boss explained. (Translated from Italian via Google)

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What did Wolff say earlier?

After seeing the horrible crash of his driver at Monza, it is no surprise to Wolff unhappy about the situation. Hence, he initially felt that Verstappen was the one responsible for the crash. He feels that Verstappen knew that Hamilton had a chance of winning the race, and had to do everything to prevent that.

Speaking to Sky Sports as quoted by PlanetF1, Wolff said, “The stewards are going to decide who is to blame, or predominantly to blame. We’ve seen that in the past.”

Formula One F1 – Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – July 4, 2021 McLaren team principal Toto Wolff before the race Pool via REUTERS/Christian Bruna

“But I would say it’s in football, you’d call it a tactical foul. He probably knew that if Lewis stays ahead, that is the race [win] for him possibly. [Verstappen] doesn’t look like [he’s] alongside. Then you go over the sausage kerb. But if you compare it to what Lewis said at Turn 4 in lap 1, there was no space left and he was pushed off the track actually,” Wolff explained.

With the next race in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix, Wolff hopes to see Hamilton bounce back and avoid another crash with his arch-rival.

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