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Hill hits out at Verstappen: 'When they do it to him, he cries like a baby'
- Ludo van Denderen
Damon Hill has harshly criticised Red Bull Racing and especially Max Verstappen in an interview with British newspaper The Telegraph. The former Formula 1 world champion stated in the newspaper that the Dutchman is actually a big whiner.
Damon Hill first of all wants to clear up a prejudice. Contrary to popular belief in the Netherlands, the Brit does not hate Max Verstappen. Instead, he thinks Red Bull's Dutchman is "brilliant". "I mean, what's not to like about him? He's sensational."
But Hill is simultaneously critical of some of Verstappen's behaviour, arguing that Red Bull does not correct its star driver enough when he - in the Briton's eyes, that is - goes over the line. "I think Red Bull have a responsibility, their team management has a responsibility, to the sport," he said.
"If their driver goes over the limit on occasion, they have a responsibility to say ‘You can’t do that.’ And they don’t. That’s always been my issue with them. That they have almost given Max carte blanche and protected their driver from not sticking to the code, if you like.”
Hill agrees with Verstappen, yet criticises him
Hill then gives an example of how Verstappen races unfairly in his eyes. “[Last year] Max correctly interpreted to his advantage the rule about overtaking and being ahead at the apex on the inside. There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t do that. And it’s exciting to see people dive down the inside.
"Except that no other driver does it. And if someone was to do it to him, he’d cry like a baby. And that’s one of my issues with them. Red Bull simply can’t accept that. No, it really is slightly disappointing, to say the least, that they like to be thought of as the hard kids on the block, but when something doesn’t go their way, they cry about it.
The 1996 world champion is also fed up that he and his former Sky Sports colleagues have been accused of not being able to judge Verstappen independently: "“As I say, I like Max. What I don’t like is jingoism. And I don’t like the fact that it became a ‘You’re against us because we’re not British’ and all that nonsense, which was used as a way of pressuring us. It’s utterly unfair to suggest that there is any kind of anti-Dutch thing going on."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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