Jul.21 - Bernie Ecclestone has joined those who believe Lewis Hamilton should have been more harshly penalised for his clash with title rival Max Verstappen at Silverstone.

One round of the former F1 supremo's criticism had already reached Hamilton prior to the incident, when Ecclestone said the Mercedes driver is no longer "the fighter he was".

But now, whilst yachting off the coast of Croatia with his wife and child, 90-year-old Ecclestone has chimed back into the debate by commenting on Formula 1's latest big controversy.

"Lewis' actions did not surprise me," he told veteran F1 correspondent Roger Benoit.

"After five defeats, he had fallen into a deep mental depression and lacked the necessary concentration," Ecclestone said.

"And since Max is always rock hard, Hamilton played poker and went all-in," he told Blick newspaper.

Ecclestone was highly critical of the stewards' decision to impose only a 10-second time penalty for the incident that left Max Verstappen briefly in hospital.

"What you could do is let the two best drivers loose and then talk about a racing accident," he said.

"But if they think it was dangerous, then a 10-second penalty is a joke. I would have given at least a 30-second penalty."

Ultimately, Ecclestone thinks the situation ended firmly in British GP winner Hamilton's favour, as he slashed his championship deficit to just 8 points.

"We can't see inside their heads, but for me, Hamilton is now the championship favourite again," said the Briton.

"Some time ago, Lewis only extended his contract until 2023 because he saw the title slipping away. But now his eighth title is back in sight.

"That's the only reason why he's still there."


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10 F1 Fan comments on “Ecclestone believes Hamilton now is F1 title favourite again

  1. ReallyOldRacer

    "Some time ago, Lewis only extended his contract until 2023 because he saw the title slipping away. But now his eighth title is back in sight.

    "That's the only reason why he's still there."

    Wisdom from Bernie. Wish I was yachting off the coast of Croatia.

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  2. David Larison

    Stay tuned to your Race Channel Screen Formula 1 Fans, Max isn't done by a long shot. Max has an equal car with Red Bull and more ability, not to mention Max is a Racer and Hamster is only a driver. I firmly believe Max will win his 1st Formula 1 Title going away.

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      • David Larison

        Evidently you have missed my comments regarding Hamster in the past years while he won championships. No problem, I will enlighten you. Hamster won 1 Championship while he was with Mclaren by finishing 6th or 7th, Massa finished 1st in that race. Jenson Button won 1 Championship and Jenson behaved as a Racer and a Gentleman. While Hamster was with Mclaren he won some races but he did not stand out compared to his peers. Alonzo won 2, Vettle won 4, I could go on, but Hamster was quite vocal when ever things didn't go his way, He was a whinny crybaby waa waa. When Mercedes came calling Hamster was so quick to forget everything Mclaren did for him and jump to Mercedes. To their credit Merc built cars that noone could beat, it didn't matter as much who was driving. George Russell got in Hamsters' car last year which wasn't even set up for him and he quickly ran away from the field and would have easily won if Toto wouldn't have put the cabosh to his race with some Pit Stop errors that reminded me of bush league mistakes. Mistakes that Mercedes just didn't make unless they were told to in my opinion. Hamster rushed right back to drive in the next race to stop George form getting in his car again, and after the race he even admitted he was still not 100%. Lets go back in History a bit, Gilles Villeneuve was a Racer, unfortunately his time was cut short and he didn't win any Championships. If you don't believe anything I have said ask Formula 1 Drivers their opinion on Racers compared to Drivers.

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