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Damon Hill gave his verdict on Max Verstappen's highly debated move on Oscar Piastri during the first lap of the Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday (April 20), which earned the Red Bull driver a five-second penalty. The 1996 F1 world champion saw Verstappen's move as an unfair one, which could not have been allowed to go unpunished.
On the very first turn of lap 1 of the Saudi Arabian GP, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri had their incident, after the Aussie driver got a better launch off the line and arrived first into turn 1. Verstappen hung in around the outside and then regained the lead after cutting the corner, claiming that Piastri did not leave him enough room.
While it has been debated by experts and fans alike as to who arrived at the corner first and who was at fault in the incident, the stewards deemed that Verstappen gained an unfair advantage by going off track and subsequently penalized him. The reigning champion lost the race lead after he served his five-second penalty during the pit-stop, and Piastri then cruised home to finish in the top spot.
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Sharing F1 pundit Edd Straw's verdict about the incident, Hill said he agreed with the analysis, which suggested that the Dutchman's penalty was justified. Hill also claimed that there will also be those who disagree with the analysis.
"Ed Straw on Verstappen first corner move @wearetherace "I don't see how racing works if that move is allowed to happen." I agree. No doubt others disagree. #f1"
Max Verstappen seemed to be fuming after the race ended in Jeddah and even walked out of his post-race interview, before snubbing the podium parties, as he stood in the corner while Piastri and Charles Leclerc celebrated. The 27-year-old gave short answers and refused to talk about the Lap 1 incident throughout his post-race interviews and press-conferences.
Damon Hill highlights inconsistent F1 rules amid Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri incident
Damon Hill shared his opinion on the application of rules in F1 being inconsistent, claiming that no other sport in the world changes its laws as much as F1. The Brit shared his opinion seemigly in reaction to the debate around the Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri incident during Sunday's Saudi Arabian GP.
"There is no sport in the world that adjusts the rules of play quite as often as F1. Discuss....#f1," Hill wrote on X.
The FIA, F1's governing body, has previously come under criticism for judging similar incidents with different precedents in the past, and this accusation was again made after the Lap 1 incident in Jeddah. Many F1 experts and fans have also called for the FIA to hire permanent stewards, rather than different ones for different races, as a measure to deal with inconsistent rulings.
