Hill takes a clear stance on the Jeddah incident between Verstappen and Piastri

11:03, 21 Apr

byOlly Darcy

Damon Hill has spoken out about the incident between Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri at the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Turn 1 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit saw the two drivers on the front row come very close together, with Piastri getting a fantastic launch off the line to lead going into the first corner.

Verstappen, as we have seen many times in his career, looked to make a move around the outside of the corner, but he couldn't make it, cutting the chicane in the process and getting back ahead of the McLaren. He did not give the position back, and that resulted in a five-second time penalty.

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Both camps argued their respective, opposing sides after the race, with McLaren feeling the penalty was justified, while Red Bull, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko all sided with Verstappen and dismissed it as a racing incident. Horner declared that Red Bull ‘would present new footage’ to the FIA stewards with the potential of a right to review.

According to the 1996 world champion Hill, the time penalty for Verstappen was more than justified, with those five seconds changing the complexion of the race.

Hill says Verstappen's penalty is completely justified

Hill states he completely agrees with the argument that if actions like Verstappen's are allowed, racing essentially loses its meaning. "I agree," Hill writes on X. He adds: "No doubt others disagree."

The Brit also levels broader criticism at the way F1 deals with the rules: "There is no sport in the world that adjusts the rules of play quite as often as F1," says Hill, emphasising how the interpretation of racing incidents can sometimes be inferred very differently, with the Brit then saying, "Discuss..." afterwards to gague what his followers on X think of the adjusting of the rules in F1.

This article was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder