Senior Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has insisted that the Milton Keynes-based team did not tarnish Sir Lewis Hamilton or attack his character.
Tensions between Mercedes and Red Bull sharply escalated after Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided on the opening lap of the British GP, with the Dutch driver coming off worse and retiring from the grand prix.
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Hamilton, meanwhile, managed to bounce back from a 10-second time penalty, which he was awarded for causing the collision, to win his home race.
Red Bull were quick to voice their discontent with what they considered to be a lenient penalty, especially as the incident had serious consequences in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship.
Mercedes subsequently issued a statement criticising Red Bull for trying to “tarnish the good name” of Hamilton.
“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team welcomes the decision of the stewards to reject Red Bull Racing’s right to review,” the Silver Arrows said in a statement after Red Bull’s application for the FIA to re-investigate the incident was rejected.
“In addition to bringing this incident to a close, we hope that this decision will mark the end of a concerted attempt by the senior management of Red Bull Racing to tarnish the good name and sporting integrity of Lewis Hamilton, including in the documents submitted for their unsuccessful right to review.
“We now look forward to going racing this weekend and to continuing our hard-fought competition for the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship.”
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However, Dr Marko has insisted that they didn’t try to tarnish Hamilton’s reputation.
“We have in no way tarnished Hamilton as a person,” Marko said in an interview with Motorsport Magazin.
“We only said that in our opinion his actions weren’t correct and that the punishment was disproportionate.”
Continuing, the Austrian stressed that Red Bull have nothing personal against the Briton and would have acted the same way had it been another driver.
“If it had been a different driver, we would have handled things the same way,” he said.
“So that had nothing to do with Hamilton, it’s just the way we react to incidents like this,” Dr Marko reiterated.
Hamilton currently has an eight-point lead over Verstappen at the summit of the Drivers’ Standings, while Red Bull trail Mercedes by 12 points.
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