Brundle suggests Verstappen’s Mexico shortcut was premeditated
According to former F1 driver Martin Brundle, reigning champion Max Verstappen should've been punished with a drive through penalty at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
"Max made no effort whatsoever to take turns one, two or three, and that should have been a penalty."- Martin Brundle.
At the start oif the race, Verstappen was alongside Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris as the four drivers prepared themselves to take the first corner.
Verstappen then banged wheels with Leclerc which caused his RB21 to skate over the kerbs on the left hand side of the track. Given the dust and the loss of aerodynamic efficiency prompted by the car's floor grinding over the kerbing, he lost grip and went off onto the grass.
“Max should have had a penalty, because if you put your car on the far left in four abreast, it will go on the kerb. But Max had no intention [of making the corner. You can see Max accelerate,” Brundle said in Sky Sports' the F1 Show.
“Really skilful driving through the grass, I must say. But Max made no effort whatsoever to take turns one, two or three, and that should have been a penalty.
“Max took the risk on the outside, knowing full well he could just bury the throttle and carry on," Brundle further stated, interpreting the Dutch driver's actions as premeditated.
"The sort of thing if the fireproof boot had been on the other foot, Max would have been screaming about on the radio, saying he had no intention of making that corner. He didn’t.
“I might even have given somebody doing what Max did, a drive-through, as a proper deterrent to stop the silliness, because then it all gets chaotic.
“I completely can understand those drivers that were minding their business actually staying on the racetrack, going like, ‘Well, hang on, I’m losing out here. I might as well have just made my own race track up in the first few corners and gain some gain places,'” Brundle concluded.
Russell brands Verstappen 'a fucking joke'
George Russell is one of the drivers Brundle believes had cause for grievance at Verstappen for going off track at the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The British Mercedes driver thought the reigning F1 champion should've got a penalty for his corner-cutting actions at Turns 1 and 2.
Later on in the race, following a Turn 5 melee that saw Russell get forced off the track and subsequently overtaken by Haas rookie Oliver Bearman and Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the British race-winner labeled Verstappen "a fucking joke," and quipped the Dutch driver's actions reminded him of his first-ever go-kart race.
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