I won’t say Max did it on purpose, but it was his fault. He rushed his recovery to avoid losing his position.
Had he just followed through and straight lined the corner, it would been the safer approach. But there would have been the chance he’d have to hand the position to Kimi, for cutting the corner.
So Max’s path of moving back onto the track [asap] was probably he’s best chance of keeping his claim to his position in front of Kimi. But got him the penalty for the unsafe rejoin.
It’s a bit lose-lose. But it was his own error that got him into it.
As far as my view of Kimi: He was the one on the track, and kind of has the right of way as a result.
It was up to Max to rejoin the track in a safe manner.
So for Max to rejoin and make contact in the process was going to end in a penalty.
As for pundits not critiquing Max. I think some are a bit too starry-eyed about a fast young driver, who’s a bit rough around the edges, driving in a top team.
And while I’d admit, its exciting, having a young driver who won’t back down easily. It doesn’t make him exempt from criticism.
I believe they’d be talking differently, about Max, if he was up against his contemporaries (if he was being matched by Leclerc in the Ferrari, or a Mercedes driven by Ocon) as he’d no longer have the aura/excuse of being THE young guy battling near the front.
