1996 Formula 1 champion Damon Hill has reaffirmed his critical stance towards Max Verstappen, claiming the Dutchman uses “fear and intimidation” on track.
Hill was on the receiving end of one of the most dubious title-winning manoeuvres in F1 history when Michael Schumacher ran him out of the 1994 Australian GP in Adelaide.
It’s no wonder then that Hill saw Verstappen running Lando Norris off the road in the Mexico City GP as “dick dastardly” tactics.
Verstappen responded to Hill’s criticism in Thursday’s Sao Paulo GP press conference, saying: “I don’t listen to those individuals. I just do my thing. I’m a three-time world champion. I think I know what I’m doing.”
Following the press conference, Hill gave his reaction to Sky Sports F1, whereby he maintained his criticism.
“I think that he’s using fear and intimidation,” Hill said.
“He also has explained a little bit more about his tactics which has been that he regards it as a gamble.
“Sometimes it may pay off, sometimes he may get the better of the stewards, they might not apply a penalty.
“He’s also using it as a way of compromising the title contender Lando Norris.
“So there is some logic, there’s some method to his angriness. He says he knows what he’s doing, but is it right and fair?”
Hill claims there is ‘universal disapproval’ of Verstappen’s driving
Verstappen has claimed he has the “wrong passport” and that’s why he is heavily criticised.
Mexico City GP race steward Johnny Herbert concurred that Verstappen was deliberately running Norris off the road to hurt his title chances.
In his comments to Autosport in Brazil, Verstappen said, “I didn’t do anything on purpose. They can’t look inside my head. It’s a pretty extreme accusation. We just raced hard.”
Hill, however, is adamant there is “universal disapproval” of Verstappen’s driving.
“They don’t want dangerous situations as well such as changing the line under a braking area and stuff like that which is what he used to get up to as well,” he added.
“So they added regulations to cover that. When he makes the point about individuals, it’s not individuals. It’s almost universal disapproval.
“That’s the point. It’s not a vendetta against Max. It’s simply the people who watch the racing want it to be conducted in a reasonable and fair way.
“If everybody was doing this, it would be daft, it would be silly, and it wouldn’t be worth watching.
“We like close racing. We are in Sao Paulo, this is where it all started a little bit in 2021, with him running deep into turn four. And everyone went, hang on a minute, you can’t just run the guy clean off the road to defend, and he’s still doing it.”
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