Damon Hill and Max Verstappen have been at loggerheads since the 2024 Mexico City GP. Sticking to his aggressive driving style, the Dutchman defended his position vehemently against Lando Norris. In doing so, he ran the Briton wide, not once but twice. The FIA stewards promptly punished Verstappen for both incidents with a 10-second time penalty each.
Hill, who was a part of Sky Sports F1’s team of experts, did not take well to the reigning champion’s approach. The 1996 champ criticized Verstappen for using ‘fear and intimidation’ as a tool to defeat his rivals. Hill, particularly referring to the second incident, termed the move ‘daft and Dick Dastardly’.
The comment did not go down well with Verstappen, who stated that being a three-time champion, he did not need to change his driving style. Moreover, he rejected Hill’s criticism as comments he ‘didn’t really pay a lot of attention to’.
Soon after, Sky Sports F1 announced Hill’s departure from their panel of experts. Many saw that as a move to counter Verstappen and Red Bull’s ‘British bias’ charge.
It has been a while since, but Hill continues to carry the Verstappen-hater label. The 64-year-old, however, refuted the charge.
“The internet is a knee-jerk reaction,” he said on The Fast and The Curious Podcast.
Ruing ‘not enough space’ for nuance, Hill continued, “So it’s literally a ping pong ball inside a box that is being shaken around by the algorithm, you know. It’s sensationalism.”
Max about the criticism from Damon Hill and Martin Brundle
“If they knew everything so well before their careers, they would all have become champions.”
“I know that many people are biased and that I have the wrong passport. I am very happy with my passport, mind you, but in… pic.twitter.com/xS5WWMcArD
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) October 31, 2024
Throughout the podcast, Hill praised Verstappen. From his ability to squeeze out every last bit of performance from the car to his hunger for wins, the four-time champ earned plenty of compliments.
However, Hill also stood by his original criticism of Verstappen. He once again shed light on his habit of going ‘a bit further than the limit most would go’.
“The points I made about Max, I think were completely justifiable. And I think, and I totally stand by them in terms of what he’s prepared to do on track during the race to maintain his position or recover his position or prevent someone from taking a position,” said Hill.
The former Williams driver believes Verstappen wouldn’t appreciate it if he were on the receiving end of ‘the same exaggerated defensive tactics.’ However, there aren’t drivers out there who are ready to dish it out to him.
Hill partly blames team principal Christian Horner for Verstappen’s overly aggressive driving style. He recalls Ross Brawn occasionally calling out Michael Schumacher for the same back in the day. Horner, however, is ‘reluctant’ to do the same.
“If their driver goes over the limit on occasion, they have a responsibility to say, ‘You can’t do that.’ And they don’t,” he said.
Finally, Hill assigned blame to the FIA stewards as well. He called for more ‘robust’ stewarding and the need to set ‘limits’. The absence of such policing, in Hill’s opinion, brings ‘the sport down’.
