F1 – Hamilton wanted to cancel trip to New York after crash at Monza | F1only.fr

The logic of boarding a transatlantic flight the evening after an on-track collision with rival Max Verstappen at the Italian GP has been questioned by detractors of Lewis Hamilton, including the motorsport advisor to rival team Red Bull , Helmut Marko, who hinted that perhaps Hamilton had exaggerated the severity of his injuries that day at Monza.

In this accident, the right rear wheel of Max Verstappen’s single-seater hit the head of Lewis Hamilton and the seven-time world champion complained of stiff neck and headaches after the race, which did not help. he did not prevent taking a plane to New York where the Mercedes pilot was expected to participate in the MET Gala.

« The whole incident certainly did not endanger his life. If he had had severe neck pain or problems then he wouldn’t have been in New York City – by the way in the very funny outfit he appeared in. ” Marko said at the time.

« If you take a seven hour flight with a stiff neck after an incident like this, then it wasn’t that bad. »

Hamilton said he barely felt the tire of Verstappen’s car making contact with his head at the time, but as the adrenaline thinned out later that evening the pain started to kick in. appear.

Regarding the criticisms of Helmut Marko, Lewis Hamilton pointed out: “I didn’t say I was dying! “, before explaining that he had considered for a moment not to board his flight to New York precisely because of the pain.

« I spoke to one of my associates and said, “Maybe I shouldn’t go.” “ Hamilton said in an interview with ESPN.

“He said, ‘If you really don’t want to go, it will be sad for all these people, but I’m sure they can figure it out. So I decided that couldn’t cancel. So I looked at what steps would be needed to attend and I needed Angela [Cullen, la kiné personnelle d’Hamilton] come with months just in case it gets worse or my back hangs more over the next twelve hours. So Angela came with me and we worked on the flight. “

“My back and neck were still bandaged, I had check-ups, physiotherapy and acupuncture that day, which released a lot of tension. I was still a little tense when I got to the MET, but I felt good with the anti-inflammatories. “

During the next scheduled race in Sochi, Russia, the Mercedes driver still felt a little pain in the back of his neck, but that did not prevent him from securing the 100th victory of his career in Formula 1.

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