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Sky analysts fiercely critical of Verstappen, with one surprising exception
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen received two time penalties totalling fifteen seconds in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He was just able to hold on to his second place, as Valtteri Bottas finished exactly 15.7 seconds behind the Dutchman. The Red Bull Racing driver was criticised after the race, especially by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, but also by British Sky Sports.
According to Martin Brundle, it is so bad that Verstappen needs to change something about his driving style. "I think Verstappen has got to think about his driving standards. They were too much today," said the former Formula One driver. "There's aggressive, determined, feisty racing and then there's what we saw this evening, which was too much."
His colleague Johnny Herbert fully agrees. "It puts a little bit of a bad taste in the mouth," he responds. "I think it just shows what Max is willing to do to try and win this world championship."
Hill surprisingly lenient on Verstappen
Damon Hill, who is more often critical of Verstappen, was surprisingly mild in his judgment on this occasion. Earlier, he indicated that he could not catch the Dutchman at fault in the incident in which Hamilton drove into the back of the Red Bull.
"There are some people who drive with absolutely no compromise whatsoever, and I think Max is one of those people. But he's very skilful and very brilliant, and it's exciting to watch," said the 1996 world champion.