Max Verstappen, driving a Red Bull car that isn’t fast enough to compete for wins, is resorting to desperate measures to hold on to his championship lead. However, the three-time world champion perhaps crossed the line during last weekend’s Mexico City GP while dueling with Lando Norris.
Norris is Verstappen’s direct title rival and is gaining ground in the closing stages of the season. Verstappen, bringing out his ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude, decided to take his gloves off in Mexico to counter Norris’ moves. However, it didn’t leave a good taste in the mouth of money, including 1996 world champion Damon Hill.
“He let himself down,” Hill said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. “I don’t think that was something to be proud of.”
Verstappen get’s overtaken but leaves no space so Norris needs to shortcut and is ahead, Max get’s mad at that and absolutely sends it afterwards. In no world he’s making that corner and if Norris doesn’t avoid him that’s a crash. Such a dangerous driving, unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/kgYgaqqTPP
— Ferran West (@ferranwest) October 27, 2024
Hill was referring to the lap 10 incident between Verstappen and Norris, which led to the Dutchman receiving a 20-second penalty. The penalty resulted from two separate maneuvers by the Red Bull driver, the first of which saw Norris briefly pull ahead after what appeared to be an aggressive defensive move from Verstappen.
But then, Verstappen lunged into the inside of Norris, pushing him off the track, and gained a momentary advantage over him. The race officials felt that it was too much.
Verstappen ended up getting two 10-second penalties — one for forcing Norris off track, another for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. “Lando didn’t have [many] option, and they actually did touch,” Hill added, justifying the penalty.
What this meant for Verstappen
The 20-second penalty was a game-changer for Verstappen and Red Bull. As he had to make his mandatory pit stop, the Milton Keynes-based outfit had to serve the penalty during the stop, which increased his pit stop time.
Then, the 27-year-old was free to hunt Norris down once again, but he couldn’t. He had to settle for P6 on the afternoon, whereas Norris — without any penalties — drove a brilliant race to stand on the second step of the podium.
Verstappen lost a 10-point advantage because of his shenanigans, something he didn’t have to do, because as Hill pointed out, he has more than enough talent and competitive spirit to win or defend positions on merit.
In the standings, Verstappen has a 47-point lead over Norris with four Grand Prix races (and two Sprints) remaining.
