Damon Hill's puzzling reference to Verstappen's past in Piastri's British Grand Prix penalty debate

08:44, 09 Jul

byTim Kraaij

Damon Hill has mentioned a Max Verstappen incident from 2021 in a discussion about Oscar Piastri's penalty, making a comparison that leaves many wondering why Hill chose this specific reference.

Oscar Piastri received a ten-second time penalty during the British Grand Prix after an incident behind the safety car. The Australian braked too suddenly and too hard. When asked about his opinions, Damon Hill referred to past incidents.

‘’It strikes me there's a couple of interesting retrospective examples. I mean, what about Saudi Arabia in the race where Max brake tested before the DRS line with Lewis Hamilton. Do you remember that race, Saudi?’’, Hill began on the Sky Sports podcast.

‘’And then there was also my victory in 94, the British Grand Prix. I got that because Michael Schumacher got a 10-second penalty for overtaking me and ignoring the black flag, actually, is what he got the penalty for. But he overtook me twice on the start on the parade lap.’’

Why Hill chose these comparisons is unclear. These incidents, especially Verstappen's, took place during the race itself, whereas Oscar Piastri's moment happened behind the safety car. Hill did explain, though, why he found a penalty for Piastri was justified.

Did Verstappen try to frame Piastri with a penalty?

‘’Now, the job of the guy, the reason they have this rule, the guy who's on pole for a race leads everyone round and he's got a responsibility to everyone behind him."

"I think it was a fair penalty because what you cannot do, especially in the wet, is suddenly slam your brakes on, unexpectedly, with drivers right behind you.’’

Max Verstappen was able to avoid Piastri, but according to Hill, several other drivers were affected. They could not see what the leader was doing. With everyone about to accelerate, this was therefore an irresponsible action by the McLaren driver.

This is a completely different reaction than what McLaren expressed after the race. Both Andrea Stella and Oscar Piastri pointed the finger at Max Verstappen. According to them, the Dutchman exaggerated to provoke a penalty. According to Hill and also David Croft, this was not the case.