Max is fine a day after the major crash

Published on 19 July 2021 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen is relatively fine a day after his major crash. The Red Bull Racing driver is still a bit stiff, especially in his upper body, but otherwise he is unharmed, after the most serious crash in his career at Silverstone.

In the first lap of the British Grand Prix the Dutchman went wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton for the lead in the race. It went horribly wrong in Copse corner, when the Brit collided with his left front wheel into Max’ right rear wheel, in an opportunistic attempt to pass. The RB16B of Max spun, sending him backwards into the tyre barriers. The stewards deemed Hamilton at fault but only awarded him a minor penalty of ten seconds.

While Hamilton was triumphantly celebrating his victory in front of his home crowd, Max was taken to Coventry hospital for further check-ups. Fortunately the CT- and MRI-scans did not reveal any injury and around ten o’clock local time Max was discharged from hospital. On Monday morning Max flew home to Monaco with his father Jos, as was already planned, to further recover. Max is fine and feels well, given the heavy impact of no less than 51G.

The RB16B is obviously a write-off, which presents Red Bull Racing with 7.5 ton of damage. With the current budget cap in Formula 1, this is a nasty expense. The power unit is sent to Japan, where Honda will examine it and see if it can be saved. As only three engines are allowed to be used in a season (without penalties), this could cause another setback.