Ross Brawn says the controversial clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton robbed fans of a thrilling battle at Silverstone, and the F1 chief hopes such an incident can be avoided in the future.
Brawn viewed the ill-fated on-track spat between F1's two title contenders as the only negative in an otherwise "fabulous weekend" marked by the first trial of F1's Sprint Qualifying.
"It was a fabulous weekend," said Grand Prix racing's managing director of motorsport in his Monday post-race debrief. "We had a full house, which was permitted by the UK government pilot event, while the new format – our first-ever F1 Sprint – was a success.
"And then we had a nail-biting Grand Prix on Sunday that was a game of two halves with a dramatic start and a dramatic finish.
"We saw the title protagonists go wheel-to-wheel once again, but this time it ended in a collision, which ended Max’s race.
"It was a massive relief to see him climb out of the car and walk away before he went to hospital for precautionary checks."
But Brawn admitted that the clash was an anti-climax of sorts for F1 fans and one that should provide some food for thought for both Verstappen and Hamilton.
"As is always the case in these matters, there will be a wide range of opinions on the rights and wrongs," Brawn said.
"What is clear is that we were robbed of a thrilling battle and nobody wants the championship decided on crashes and penalties, and, as in this case, there was a serious risk to either driver.
"It is something both drivers will reflect on. I hope we can avoid those incidents in the future because I think we were denied a fantastic battle.
"They raced each other hard for half a lap, and it was thrilling. Imagine how dramatic the Grand Prix would have been if that had been the whole race."
Regarding F1's roll-out at Silverstone of its Sprint Qualifying concept, Brawn was satisfied with how the event had unfolded and the added value it delivered, adding that F1 would now take stock of the weekend and "digest the feedback".
"I’m very pleased with F1’s first Sprint weekend," he said. "Our belief was that it would add more engagement for fans across three days – and it definitely did.
"I don’t see how it did anything other than enhance the race weekend.
"We’ll go away and reflect on the format in the next week or two. I’m sure there will be things we can pick up with teams and then digest the feedback.
"It’s a great first step in this experiment, with two more Sprints to come.
"I want to emphasise that we won’t make a judgment on whether it will be part of our championship in the future until we have done all three Sprints on three different tracks."
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