Palmer says Verstappen deserves penalty: "Look at his steering angle"

In a last-ditch effort to hold off Hamilton, Verstappen applied the brakes rather late for turn 4 as Hamilton tried to pass him on the outside. The Dutchman managed to keep Hamilton behind him, but he ended up well off the track. According to Palmer this is the reason why Verstappen should have received a penalty.

No penalty for duel with Hamilton

''It was a last ditch attempt to try and keep Lewis behind. It's worked but in doing so he has forced Hamilton off track and is miles off track himself. The stewards deemed this one acceptable, which really surprised me. In all those other cases the car that has done the forcing off the track, [has remained on the kerb] and the car being forced off the track has ended up [only just off the track]. In Brazil, we're in a different situation. Max has not made the corner," said Palmer at Formula1.com.

"It's your title rival trying to overtake you outside, so you're not going to make it easy for him. Max does the only thing he can do and that is going down the inside, but is he really making an attempt to make the corner? Look at his steering angle. If it was already a penalty for Verstappen, this angle makes it even more obvious," said Palmer on seeing the onboard footage of Verstappen.

Verstappen takes risk

According to Palmer, Verstappen's failure to turn in could mean two things. ''Either he went into the corner too hot because he doesn't want to spin the car. I don't think he's on the limit of steering so maybe it's more about forcing Hamilton off the road," concludes the former Formula One driver.