After two arguably dull races, F1 is back to its chaotic self. The Australian GP, with its 3 red flags and lots of drama, delivered a bang for the fans’ buck. Now we’re in Azerbaijan and even before the main race start, we’ve had quite a lot of drama. In the middle of it all are Max Verstappen and George Russell, who came together during the sprint race yesterday. Nothing special, right? Drivers crash into each other all the time. However, it’s Verstappen’s holier-than-thou approach that is inviting criticism from all over. The latest to join the brigade of critics is a former F1 champ turned expert for Sky F1.

Russell got off to a great start during the sprint and overtook Verstappen to take P3. However, when the duo moved into Turn 2, Max attacked him from around the outside but found insufficient space. The tussle saw them come together with the Dutchman taking damage to his floor and some bodywork. He later overtook the Briton and made some sarcastic comments on the radio while talking to his race engineer. Later he confronted George in the parc ferme and the cameras picked him calling the Mercedes man a “d**khead,”

Max Verstappen slammed for trying to project a clean image of himself

Verstappen has earned quite the notoriety in F1 for his aggressive driving style. While team boss Christian Horner terms it as a form of his defense, Lewis Hamilton calls it “do or die”. Clearly, it is one of the most divisive subjects among the F1 entities and the opinions depend on where one falls on the spectrum- fan or not a fan. The latest to take the reigning champion to task is Damon Hill.

Speaking recently during a Sky F1 broadcast, Hill said, “If you cast your mind back to Monza with Lewis Hamilton, he (Verstappen) just didn’t back out of the corner, did he? So, he’s done it himself. He’s a hard racer. They’re both hard racers, George and Max. And this is what happens when you get a rock and hard place together.”

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To refresh your memory, Damon is talking about the 2021 Italian GP where Lewis and Max crashed during a Lap 26 incident. Verstappen took off into the air after running into Hamilton and landed the back of his car on the Briton’s helmet and the halo.

Verstappen takes the holier than thou approach to Russell controversy

After the snarky comments on the radio and then calling Russell a d**ckhead, Verstappen gathered himself during the post-sprint interviews. In one of those, he was asked whether he would have done the same if he was in George’s position.

He replied, “I would try to fight but not run into someone because that’s not what you want to do. That’s something you maybe learn over time.”

However, he admitted to making mistakes in his formative years in F1. “I had my moments as well when I first started in Formula 1 where you make some silly mistakes – a lock-up or potential damage. Maybe it’s just part of the learning curve,” he added.

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Max will start the race in P2 behind Charles Leclerc. Given how Ferrari has struggled for race pace since last year, it will be a herculean task for the Monegasque to keep the Red Bull drivers at bay.