The surprise Max Verstappen revelation from 51G Lewis Hamilton Silverstone crash

Max Verstappen has revealed he has suffered some longer-term ill effects from his 2021 Silverstone crash.

Max Verstappen has revealed he suffered some lingering side effects from his huge Silverstone crash in 2021.

Verstappen was pitched off sideways into the tyre barriers at high speed on the first lap of the 2021 British Grand Prix, following a collision with Lewis Hamilton that was one of the main flashpoints of that season’s epic title fight.

Max Verstappen struggled with visibility problems after Silverstone 2021

Racing through Copse side by side, Verstappen and Hamilton made contact that resulted in the Red Bull driver spinning off and slamming into the tyre barriers at high speed.

The Dutch driver could be heard moaning in pain and initially struggling to breathe over the team radio, having suffered a 51G sideways impact. Recovering sufficiently to be able to clamber out of the cockpit, he was taken to hospital for precautionary checks while the race continued.

But while Verstappen was back in action for the following race, and showed no ill effects at any point that season, the Dutch driver has revealed that he suffered from physical repercussions due to the scale of the impact.

Speaking to Red Bull publication the Red Bulletin, Verstappen revealed how the effects affected him quite badly during the 2021 United States Grand Prix – one of his most impressive victories that season as he held off Hamilton for the victory under intense pressure in the closing stages.

“Since my Silverstone crash, I’ve struggled with visibility problems, especially on undulating circuits or those with lots of advertising boards on the side of the track,” he said.

“In this race [Austin 2021], I wasn’t just fighting against Lewis, but also against blurred images.

“It was like driving a speedboat at 300 km/h! I’ve never said this before, but it was so bad for a few laps that I seriously considered turning the car off.

“The only thing that helped was to concentrate on my breathing with Lewis breathing down my neck. An important win that I desperately needed in the championship fight.”

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The crash, three years ago this week, turned what had been a terse championship fight between Red Bull and Mercedes into one of outright hostility as the Milton Keynes-based squad reacted angrily to Mercedes celebrating Hamilton’s win later that afternoon.

Hamilton had been given a time penalty after being found predominantly at fault for the crash but, in the absence of Verstappen, was able to overcome the penalty to win the race and close the gap significantly in the championship.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was particularly incensed, telling Formula1.com: “For me, it’s very clear: Lewis has stuck a wheel up the inside of one of the fastest corners on this world championship. He’s driven this circuit for years; you know you don’t do that here. The result – thank God we haven’t had a driver that’s been seriously injured or worse today.”

Speaking to Channel 4, Horner labelled Hamilton’s move up the inside into Copse as “desperate” and said: “Copse is one of the fastest corners in the world. You don’t stick a wheel up the inside. That’s just dirty driving.

“[Max] had a 51G accident. Thank God he walked away. That’s the biggest positive that we’ve had today. So yes, just relieved to see him, he’s in the medical centre, but he’s walked in there on his own doing a 30-minute precautionary check but hopefully, so far so good.

“He was massively winded,” he added. “That’s a hell of relief to see him get out because that corner is one of the fastest on the calendar. It was completely out of order to stick a wheel up the inside there.”

Later that year, Horner also revealed Verstappen had been briefly “knocked out” by the impact.

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