Mercedes may have had the upper hand over Red Bull in terms of handling PR after the Lewis Hamilton/Max Verstappen incident at the British Grand Prix, according to F1 journalist Tom Clarkson. Both teams have been vocal in supporting their drivers following the controversial first-lap clash, which resulted in Verstappen crashing out heavily whilst Hamilton went on to win, despite having served a 10-second penalty for his role in the collision. However, Clarkson believes that Mercedes may have done a better job of making the voices of the team heard in response to the incident. "When I look at everything that's been written and said since Silverstone, I would say [in the PR battle] Mercedes have had the upper hand slightly since Silverstone," Clarkson told the F1 Nation podcast. "Partly because they've offered many more people to the media. Toto Wolff's had his say. James Allison - the new chief technical officer - there, he's had his say. Andrew Sholvin - engineering director, trackside - he's had his say, whereas the only voice we've heard from Red Bull is Christian Horner. "I'm surprised that Red Bull haven't... What would Adrian [Newey] make of it? Let's hear Adrian's thoughts. Or what about Pierre Wache, their technical director? "It would be fascinating to know what they thought but, for whatever reason, they don't offer them up and therefore there's less written from a Red Bull perspective than a Mercedes perspective. I wonder why they do that?" Whilst Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has also spoken out , Damon Hill is concerned about any legal complications that might arise from the dispute. "There's been some message coming out [from Marko] and saying that he might be looking at some legal angle to this," Hill responded to Clarkson. "If you do that in motorsport, where are we going to end up? If we get lawyers suing each other for car crashes in motor racing? "We'll be tied up in red tape for the next 100 years."
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