Brundle: 'Hamilton should have allowed Verstappen more space'

The incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the Brazilian Grand Prix has been divisive, including the pundits on Sky Sports. Analysts there do agree that Verstappen's punishment would have made it a major talking point if the world title was at stake.

Martin Brundle believes Verstappen should have been given more space by Hamilton, he indicated during the live broadcast of the race. Even after the Dutchman was handed a five-second time penalty, he maintained his position. "I stand by what I said. He earned extra space at turn 2." Brundle said.

Doubt between Verstappen and Hamilton

The stewards acknowledged that Hamilton "could possibly have given a little more space" at the apex of turn two, but concluded that Verstappen was primarily responsible for the incident. Karun Chandhok also considers it a doubt, but he does think the penalty is justified. However, if a world title was at stake, the analyst says it would have become a major talking point.

"As they come through turn one, Max was momentarily ahead of Hamilton. But Hamilton is on the inside line and as they come through turn one, doing the shorter distance and quicker speed, Lewis is half a car length in front," Chandok judges in his analysis.

"Even if Lewis wasn't there, Max would've had to take turn two at a much slower speed than he would've done on the conventional line. There could've been a chance for Lewis to leave a bit more space, but that was always a closing gap. He was expecting Max to back out of it." Chandhok said.