Hill compares Verstappen to Schumacher and argues for new penalty system

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27 November 2021 at 18:49
Last update 27 November 2021 at 21:33
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  • GPblog.com

Damon Hill did not hide his opinion about the incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton during the Brazilian Grand Prix from the start. The former Formula 1 driver thinks Verstappen should have been punished for his behaviour and even pleads for a new penalty system, which in such a case could give a driver an irrevocable black flag.

The 1996 world champion shared on his social media an article from Motorsportmagazine.com, which advocates a referee-based penalty system. A former driver would have to take up the position and in the event of an infraction could issue an irrevocable black flag. This would mean that the driver in question would be taken out of the race and disqualified.

Hill calls for new penalty system

"Surely this makes sense?," reads Hill's accompanying text. "Of course, they black flagged a driver once before and he took rather minimal notice of it..." By this he is referring to Michael Schumacher, who was given a black flag at the 1994 British Grand Prix but ignored it.

Schumacher was black-flagged after Benetton refused to bring him in for a stop-and-go penalty, imposed after overtaking Hill on the warm-up lap. After the race, the German was disqualified and Benetton had to pay a $25,000 fine. They appealed the penalty, after which Schumacher was suspended for two races.

That incident still seems to bother Hill, who saw his rival at the time regularly pushing the boundaries of legality and now sees the same behaviour in Verstappen. According to him, the solution lies in a completely new penalty system.