Christian Horner accused of giving ‘racists an excuse to let fly their vitriol’ at Lewis Hamilton by Labour peer Lord Hain… after Red Bull chief’s scathing criticism of Brit for his role in 180mph crash with title rival Max Verstappen
- Red Bull chief Christian Horner has been slammed by Labour peer Lord Hain
- Horner was critical of Lewis Hamilton after his crash with Max Verstappen
- The British driver was then subjected to racist abuse on social media
- Hain described Horner’s comments as ‘ill-judged, intemperate and plain wrong’
Christian Horner has been accused of giving ‘racists an excuse to let fly their vitriol and evil’ at Lewis Hamilton following his criticism of the Mercedes driver after Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
Lord Hain, vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Formula One, believes Horner will ‘regret’ the remarks he made in the wake of Hamilton’s 180mph collision with Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the Silverstone race.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton, 36, was subjected to online racist abuse — during and after the race.
Christian Horner has been accused of giving ‘racists an excuse to let fly their vitriol and evil’
Lord Hain believes Horner will ‘regret’ the remarks he made in the wake of Hamilton’s collision
Red Bull joined Mercedes and F1 in condemning the abuse on Monday, and team principal Horner posted a message on social media, saying: ‘Whilst the rivalry is intense on track, highly-charged emotions should never cross the line into racist abuse.’
But Hain, a Labour peer, told the PA news agency: ‘Racists had an excuse to let fly their vitriol and evil at Lewis after what I thought was a very ill-judged, intemperate and plain wrong attack on him by Christian Horner.
‘I am not suggesting that Christian was implying anything racist in what he said. He was talking in pure racing terms and not racist terms and that is obvious.
‘I hope it was something said in the heat of the moment when Christian was feeling aggrieved. But these are moments when leadership is required and not intemperate outbursts.’