Verstappen's behaviour criticized by Hill: 'He should be more careful'

F1 News

Damon Hill on Verstappen behaviour in Baku
29 April 2023 at 20:34
Last update 29 April 2023 at 21:48
  • GPblog.com

For Max Verstappen, the sprint race in Azerbaijan was largely dominated by his clash with George Russell. The Dutchman was very critical of his rival's behaviour, accusing him of taking unnecessary risks. Verstappen's words were not taken well by everyone.

At least Verstappen's behaviour did not go down well with Damon Hill. The 1996 world champion analysed the sprint race and the press conference afterwards with his colleagues from Sky Sports. When Verstappen also criticised the entire format of the sprint race, Hill had had enough.

"We should just give Max Verstappen the championship and just not bother with anything else", argued Hill sarcastically. "Sorry, but that's just being salty. A sore loser. It's fair for everyone, it’s the same competition. He should be thinking about tomorrow and the championship and putting it behind him"

'Verstappen is already behaving like Schumacher and Senna'

"This is the sort of mindset you see in the sort of people like Schumacher and Senna, they will not accept that they have any part to play in stuff that happens," Hill continued his criticism. "If you cast your mind back to let’s say Monza, with Lewis Hamilton, he just didn’t back out of the corner. He’s a hard racer, they’re both hard racers, George and Max, and this is what happens when you get a rock and a hard place together."

"It looks like [to be world champion] you have to have the default 'I'm in the right, everyone else is out of step'", Hill added. "I don't agree, you have to take the rough with the smooth. It's not going to always be good, there will be times when you get it wrong. He qualified lower than his teammate, he should understand being on the outside that he will be vulnerable to attack. In many ways, he should've been more cautious,"