“He squeezes him a little bit, and Max Verstappen didn’t give”: When Toto Wolff dropped his verdict on the Silverstone 2021 clash feat Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff once opined that Lewis Hamilton 'squeezed' Max Verstappen a little during their iconic clash on the opening lap of the 2021 British Grand Prix. The 2021 season will go down as one of the greatest in F1 history, with the two drivers going after each other from the first race till the last for the drivers' championship.

There were many flashpoints in their rivalry that year, the most famous being Verstappen's crash at Silverstone after touching wheels with Hamilton at the Copse corner.

The crash sent the Red Bull driver into the barriers and had a 51G impact, sending him to the hospital for further checks while his Brit rival won the race in front of his home fans.

Speaking with Channel 4 in 2021 after the race, Toto Wolff believed that the incident was a result of the two drivers racing hard against each other and not giving each other an inch on the track. He said (via PlanetF1):

"It’s two guys racing each other hard. The first half lap was already hard, Lewis backed out once, and then these two fighting with the knife between their teeth, which could have contact, and that is what happened in that corner."

"It’s two big brave guys, one a seven-time World Champion, the other one coming up, that are racing each other hard. He squeezes him a little bit, and Max didn’t give, and that’s it," he added.

Owing to the intensity of the battle, there was a lot of bad blood between the two teams, including their team principals. However, over the years, the animosity has died down a little, with Wolff even reportedly approaching Max Verstappen for a drive in a Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton's exit from the German team.

George Russell gives his take on the Max Verstappen rumors to Mercedes

Mercedes driver George Russell said he had no 'hard feelings' regarding reports of the German team holding talks with Max Verstappen for a potential drive in the 2026 season.

Speaking with Sky Sports, the four-time F1 race winner said:

"There haven't been any hard feelings with any of the talks that have been going around, especially around Max. Like I said numerous times, why wouldn't teams be interested in Max? If every driver had no contracts for next year, Max would be No. 1 for every single team. And that's understandable."

"But ultimately, there are two seats for every race team. I knew if I continued to perform as I'm doing, my position would not be under threat whatsoever," he added.

George Russell will be out of contract at the end of the 2025 season, while Max Verstappen has a clause in his deal with Red Bull that allows him to leave at the end of the year if he fails to finish in the top four of the drivers' championship.