1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill was quick to once again criticize Max Verstappen’s driving at the Mexico Grand Prix, describing his tactics as “appealing to fear and intimidation”.
Hill had already criticized Verstappen’s driving in recent days, which earned the Englishman a criticism in return from the Dutchman.
Verstappen got defensive, saying: “I don’t listen to these individuals”.
Asked about this attitude, Hill maintained his criticism
“I think he uses fear and intimidation. He also explained in a little more detail his tactic, which is to treat it as a gamble. Sometimes it can pay off, sometimes he can get the better of the commissioners, who may not apply a penalty.”
“He’s also using it as a way to compromise the other title contender, Lando Norris. So there’s a certain logic, a certain method to his anger. He says he knows what he’s doing, but is Is this fair and equitable?”
Hill also refuted claims there was bias or a “vendetta” against Verstappen.
“The marshals also don’t want dangerous situations like changing lanes under a braking zone and things like that, which he was doing too.”
“So they added rules to cover that. When he talks about individuals, it’s not individuals. It’s almost universal disapproval. That’s the point. It’s not a vendetta against Max. “
“It’s just the people who watch the races who want them to be run in a reasonable and fair way. If everyone did that, it would be silly, it would be stupid and it wouldn’t be worth watching. We “We love close racing. We’re in Sao Paulo, that’s where it all started a bit in 2021, with him sending Lewis wide in turn four.”
“And everyone was like, ‘Wait a minute, you can’t just run the guy out of the way to defend.’ And yet he keeps doing it.”
