Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon left frustrated with Austrian Grand Prix crash as Mercedes say penalty ‘not justified’

Lewis Hamilton’s belief that his second collision with Alex Albon in the space of three races was a “racing accident” was backed by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, but the distraught Red Bull driver begged to differ after losing out on his first Formula One podium once again.

With 10 laps remaining of a frenetic Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton was behind Mercedes teammate and eventual race-winner Valtteri Bottas when the third and final safety car period came to an end, though hopes of a comfortable drive to the chequered flag for a Mercedes one-two finish were under significant threat from Albon.

Tha Thai driver pitted for fresh tyres, unlike the two Mercedes’ in front of him, and immediately upon the restart he attacked as they went side-by-side through Turn Four. As Albon looked to have swept round the outside of the six-time champion, Hamilton ran wide and his left-front tyre hit the right-rear of Albon’s Red Bull, spinning him off the track and eventually into retirement.

Hamilton received a five-second penalty for causing the accident, which dropped him from second to fourth at the finish and allowed Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris to inherit podium finishes. But Albon was left disconsolate after losing a chance at not only his first podium but a first victory of his F1 career, and having been punted out of podium contention by Hamilton at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, he firmly laid the blame at Hamilton’s door.

"I wouldn't say this one hurts more, but I feel like Brazil was a bit more 50-50," Albon said straight after the race.

"I felt like I did the move already and I was already focused on Bottas in front. It was so late, the contact.

"There's always a risk overtaking on the outside, but I gave as much space as I really could. I knew that as long as I gave him all the space that I could give him, it's up to him if he wants to crash or not."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was just as disappointed, having seen pre-race hopes of a strong points haul and potential victory unravel from the moment Max Verstappen’s car suddenly slowed to put him out of the race with just 12 laps completed.

"It's been one of those days, this sport can be pretty brutal at times,” Horner said. “Alex drove a brilliant race and deserved more, that five-second penalty doesn't mean anything for Alex.

"Twice in three races, you'd think he (Hamilton) has something against Alex. There was a similar incident where Alex gave Lewis space at the start of the race.

"We had to use that grip advantage and the grip is in the corners. He'd done that, and it's just a misjudgement from Lewis at the end of the day. It would be good if he apologises for it."

Hamilton, who received a three-place grid penalty in the final hour before the race due to a qualifying infringement on Saturday, did not complain against the five-second penalty despite it costing him two positions and six world championship points, but he did feel that the collision was a racing accident with neither driver at fault for.

"The race is done and I just feel like moving forwards," Hamilton said. "It's not been a great weekend for me. Yesterday was entirely my fault. It was a bit odd today in the preparation to all of a sudden get a penalty, but it is what it is and that didn't destabilise me, it just encouraged me to go out there and drive as best as I could. And I feel like I did.

"I had great pace to catch up with Valtteri and then a really unfortunate scenario with Alex. It really felt like a racing incident, but I'll take whatever penalty they feel I deserve and move forward."

However, Mercedes team principal Wolff went a step further and said that while the incident out the stewards in a tricky position, the penalty was “not justified”.

“The stewards are always in a difficult position to take the right decisions,” said Wolff. “I would definitely say that from my perspective, the five seconds were too harsh.

“We looked at the video a couple of times. Lewis was having full lock in the corner. Albon had about 40 per cent of the road left to make the corner.

“It was different to lap one where Lewis had to back out of Albon pushing Lewis.

“So, in my opinion, not justified. But I recognise the complexity of the job, of coming up with the right decisions. Some go for you, some go against you.”

The incident capped a tense weekend between Mercedes and Red Bull, coming as the third instance the stewards had to intervene between the two teams. On Friday, Red Bull lodged an official protest against the Dual-Axis Steering (DAS) system that Mercedes have installed for this season, with the stewards ruling in favour of the reigning world champions, while it was Red Bull who lodged additional evidence of Hamilton ignoring yellow flags in qualifying that resulted in his three-place grid penalty, which was announced by the FIA half an hour before lights out.