Sky Sports F1 favourite Martin Brundle is the latest to weigh in on Max Verstappen’s aggressive driving style after Lewis Hamilton’s comments about how he defended from Lando Norris in Austin.
Martin Brundle agrees with Lewis Hamilton’s claim that rival Max Verstappen exploits the Formula 1 rules as much as he can on track.
But he points the finger at the layout of the Circuit of the Americas for the incident with Lando Norris which has sparked much debate in the paddock. While battling during last Sunday’s Austin race, Verstappen pushed the Brit wide to try to defend his position.
Norris completed the overtake but was given a penalty for doing so by going off the circuit. And that has led to several drivers, including Hamilton calling for a change to the rules of engagement while racing wheel-to-wheel.
“It has always been a grey area – that is why [Verstappen] has got away with it for so long,” the seven-time champion said. “I experienced it many times with Max. You should not be able to just launch the car up the inside and be ahead and then go off, and still hold the position.”
Brundle concurs with Hamilton that Verstappen has an aggressive driving style and a history of pushing everything to the limit. Speaking on Sky Sports News, the veteran pundit said: “Right from the get-go, Max has pushed the limits everywhere, especially in the early days when he was way out of order in the braking zones.
“That got calmed down, but he is a street fighter, he is aggressive, he will push everything to the limit and it is why he is already a three-time world champion and perhaps soon to win a fourth. I think that is what you have got to do, you have got to get your elbows out. But there are rules of engagement, there is a field of play like in any sport.”
However, Brundle also felt the nature of the Austin circuit played a part in that particular incident with Norris. The Circuit of the Americas has lots of corners with tarmac run-off on the outside of corners instead of gravel traps, meaning little jeopardy for drivers and giving them more license to brake late and run wide.
He added: As with the availability, it is flexible in our business, depending on circuits, depending on the layout. Well, in Monaco it is not an issue because the exterior of each corner is an obstacle – it isn’t the case at Turn 12 in Austin and there are other corners there as well.
Circuits maybe which I believe compel the drivers to engage deep and get off the brakes and all the worry when they get there is, I believe are the root of the problem here. Which Max knows that and the same thing he plays it. We have got to change the tracks.
On balance, I think the guidelines don’t serve the purpose, I think they are inapposite to other rules on the field and to reason. The simplistic principle cannot be anything more than ‘let them race and let them sort it out amongst themselves’, which, though was in our list a few years back. It has left them to sort it out amongst themselves, but, again, you still need a field of play.