Red Bull are failing in their responsibility to Formula 1 by refusing to acknowledge when Max Verstappen has broken the rules, Damon Hill believes.
The 1996 world champion also accused the team of resorting to “jingoism” when defending their driver.
“I’m not anti-Max,” he told The Telegraph. “This is the point. I think Max is brilliant. I like him. I mean what’s not to like? He’s sensational. But when I felt he overstepped the mark, I said so.
“And I think Red Bull have a responsibility, their team management has a responsibility, to the sport, you know? If their driver goes over the limit on occasion, they have a responsibility to say ‘You can’t do that.’ And they don’t. That’s always been my issue with them. That they have almost given Max carte blanche and protected their driver from not sticking to the code, if you like.”
He said this happened at times last year when Verstappen was accused of deliberately forcing Lando Norris off the track.
“Max correctly interpreted to his advantage the rule about overtaking and being ahead at the apex on the inside. There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t do that. And it’s exciting to see people dive down the inside.
“Except that no other driver does it. And if someone was to do it to him, he’d cry like a baby. And that’s one of my issues with them. Red Bull simply can’t accept that. No, it really is slightly disappointing, to say the least, that they like to be thought of as the hard kids on the block, but when something doesn’t go their way, they cry about it.”
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Hill, who was a member of Sky’s Formula 1 coverage team until last year, dismissed accusations of “bias” levelled at him.
“As I say, I like Max. What I don’t like is jingoism. And I don’t like the fact that it became a ‘You’re against us because we’re not British’ and all that nonsense, which was used as a way of pressuring us. It’s utterly unfair to suggest that there is any kind of anti-Dutch thing going on. What can you do? I thought I was there to express my opinion.”
Several of Red Bull’s top team members refused to be interviewed by Sky’s presenters at the Mexican Grand Prix in 2022. Hill suggested Sky fear a repeat.
“Red Bull fight their corner very forcefully,” he said. “They don’t like criticism of Max. And they didn’t like, particularly, some of the things that were said.
“On the whole they’ve always taken the view that Sky are British-centric and biased, which is really unfair I think. Actually I think there is a desire [the other way]. I don’t think Sky want to be accused of being biased at all. I think they want to be a fair broadcaster of the sport – credit where credit’s due and all that.
“They also do not want to be denied access to a very important figure in this sport. And I think Red Bull know that, and they apply pressure if they need to.”
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