Former Method One World Champion Damon Hill criticised Pink Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen for his driving battle in opposition to title contender Lando Norris on the Mexican Grand Prix the place the Dutchman was accused of just about inflicting a collision.
In a racing incident spanning two corners, Norris was sizzling on the tails of Verstappen. The British driver first tried to overhaul the four-time World Champion from the skin and was a smidge forward. However Verstappen hit the brakes extraordinarily late and pushed Norris into the curb. The Ferrari breaking forward might have been the explanation that the Dutchman couldn’t flip in additional, however Norris went forward and got here out of the curb in entrance of Verstappen. Within the very subsequent flip the Dutch driver recklessly dove into the left of Norris and overshot the flip. The British driver, vying for his first world title, referred to as the driving ‘harmful’. Verstappen was handed a 20-second penalty by the FIA stewards for his driving. Verstappen completed sixth whereas Norris was on the rostrum with a 2nd spot.
“The world footage could be very clear,” Hill mentioned on a Sky Sports activities podcast. “He made no try and again off and make the nook and go away room for Lando. It was merely a case of ‘you aren’t coming by way of’. The second transfer was simply daft. He accelerated to the apex and drove Lando off the monitor and Lando didn’t have a lot of an choice. That was foolish driving.”
Hill additional accused Verstappen of not driving pretty when he mentioned, “They are saying that sport doesn’t construct character, it reveals character, and his default is to revert to preventative strategies relatively than attempting to maintain it inside the bounds of equity,” Hill added. “You shouldn’t be allowed to make use of your automobile as a weapon and easily block the monitor.”
Verstappen is at the moment on 362 factors whereas Norris is on 315 with two dash races and 4 Grand Prix’s nonetheless remaining, a title race that’s coming right down to the wire within the second half of the season after McLaren’s upswing.