F1 News
Hill: 'This is a skill that Verstappen has to master as a sportsman'
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen was asked many questions about the incident at Silverstone with Lewis Hamilton. On Saturday he was done with it and showed during the press conference after qualifying that he was not going to answer any more questions on the subject. Hill feels Verstappen needs to be more mature when confronted with critical questions.
According to Damon Hill the reaction of Verstappen was not correct. In the Nation Podcast the former Formula 1 driver says that Verstappen could have reacted better and differently.
"It's not possible and not fair. Journalists also have jobs they just have to do. It's not fair and it's not realistic to come into this sport, or any sport with a lot of followers, and expect that people aren't going to ask the questions that you don't want to answer. They're going to dig into your personal life, your business deals. They're going to want to know everything about you. And that's how it is when you're a famous person and in the spotlight."
Verstappen has yet to learn how to deal with fame
Because according to Hill, this is also part of being a sportsman. And the Brit feels that Hamilton, partly because of his experience, deals with this better than Verstappen.
"Probably Max wants to have a quiet life and just race without being noticed. Hamilton had that introduction (with life as a celebrity) at an early age and has learned to live with it. He's better at dealing with it. This is another skill that professional athletes have to master."
In any case, Verstappen will be glad in the coming weeks that the summer break has begun and he is not the centre of attention for a while. This will be different, especially during the Grand Prixs in Belgium and the Netherlands.