First lap clash denied fans of a fantastic battle, says F1 motorsport boss, Ross Brawn, as he admits "we were robbed".

Ross Brawn's latest debrief for the official F1 website naturally refers to the weekend's biggest talking point - and we don't mean the Sprint.

The Briton, who oversaw all of Michael Schumacher seven titles, which involved a number of high-profile incidents, admits that the first lap clash which saw Max Verstappen head off into the tyre barriers with an impact said to be around 50G, robbed fans of a fantastic battle.

"We saw the title protagonists go wheel-to-wheel once again, but this time it ended in a collision, which ended Max’s race. It was a massive relief to see him climb out of the car and walk away before he went to hospital for precautionary checks.

"As is always the case in these matters, there will be a wide range of opinions on the rights and wrongs," he adds in a masterpiece of understatement. "What is clear is that we were robbed of a thrilling battle and nobody wants the championship decided on crashes and penalties, and, as in this case, there was a serious risk to either driver.

"It is something both drivers will reflect on. I hope we can avoid those incidents in the future because I think we were denied a fantastic battle. They raced each other hard for half a lap, and it was thrilling.

"Imagine how dramatic the Grand Prix would have been if that had been the whole race," concludes the Briton.

Sadly, the incident, and its subsequent fall-out, encouraged a certain type of person to crawl from under their rock to post comments and images of a racist nature on social media, leading to F1, the FIA and the teams issuing a statement condemning the comments.

Thankfully, the media have avoided using the word 'fan' when referring to the comments for these people aren't fans. Fans are the people that lined the Silverstone track in extreme heat cheering every twist and turn of that nine corner battle and who continued to cheer the seven-time world champion throughout the race right up to the moment he ended Charles Leclerc's dream.

These people, and their counterparts watching events unfold on screens around the world are the real fans, while those posting their vile comments on social media are simply attention-seeking scum keen to jump on a bandwagon to which the mainstream media insists on giving oxygen.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Oil Leak77, 21/07/2021 18:35

"It turned out to be shooting fish in a barrel gor Lewis and some fans, even Tom Cruise, thought that wad 'great'. Lmao"

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2. Posted by Great_white_shark, 20/07/2021 18:54

"How were we robbed? This is going to be a talking point for years to come. Nobody would have remembered the race if Max drove off into the distance after lap 1. It was insanely exciting to see Lewis trying to catch up to Charles before the end of the race. Lots of action down the midfield too. Some people are simply never happy. "

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3. Posted by Wokingchap, 20/07/2021 10:50

"Thats racing Ross!"

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4. Posted by ian_w, 20/07/2021 10:31

"First off, this was was a very exciting and etnertaining race weekend, notwithstanding the loss of Verstappen and the potential race long battle with Hamilton.

Brawn is quoted, "What is clear is that we were robbed of a thrilling battle and nobody wants the championship decided on crashes and penalties" and "Imagine how dramatic the Grand Prix would have been if that had been the whole race".

He may have just as easily said "we were lucky" ...

Just imagine an alternate scenario on how the weekend might have unfolded. Instead of a crash on on lap one of the Race, consider what if the same incident happened on the first lap of the Sprint !! ? What if following the medical examination, Verstappen was told to rest for 24-48 hours and was not legible to compete in the race ?

This is not a question of who's at fault, who was right or wrong, who gambled or played it conservative on track. Now the Sunday is blown with potential implications to the Championship.

Imagine if, even a back of the field team, say 2021's crash test dummy, Mazepin takes out the other Haas or Alfa or a Red Bull that had to start from the back IN THE SPRINT and now they are faced with a million dollar repair bill and no driver available for the Show!

The fact is F1 is taking a very big gamble that there are NO SERIOUS INCIDENTS during the Sprint which take away from the Show on Sunday. Had the collision happened on the first lap of the Sprint AND had one of the participants not been able to compete on Sunday, no one would ever suggest holding a second Sprint.

Think back to Prost-Senna, Schumacher-Hilll. What of the controversy if in the tightest of championship races, one of the contenders realizes he can take out his opponent on the Saturday and still have the chance to win on the Sunday with an intact / repaired car, minus the challenger. That's not a scenario contemplating into contention.

Is it worth the risk of a Saturday Sprint? I am not sure of that.

"

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"We were robbed," says Brawn

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