[Alan Boiston]

Yet again, more contact for Max Verstappen in the Japanese Grand Prix with both Sebastien Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen. But it was the first incident with Kimi that got under my skin and the staunch defense from the SKY F1 commentators, in particular Paul Di Resta who would see no wrong in the incident.

For those that didn’t see it, Max missed his braking point and went off the track on the final chicane. On recovering, his car cut across the circuit and sent Kimi off the track. Max was awarded a penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner.

Paul Di Resta should know that this line was quite standard in video games, you’re losing it into the final corner, perhaps you lose speed and cut across to send your rival into a wall or heavily braking to avoid a crash. But this wasn’t a game, Max would have lost a place but didn’t because of this tactic and yet again Charlie Whiting appears to have lost the plot on the rules. In many ways it’s very similar to the Schumacher Vs Hill of ’94, should Hill have waited, should Kimi have waited? When a driver goes off and loses momentum the driver behind has an opportunity to strike, mistakes should not be rewarded in this way.

Yet again Max is in full defense mode, as if he did nothing wrong. This has been a defining trait of Max this season and it it why these incidents continue to happen and will continue into the future. Only by admitting and acknowledging mistakes do we improve. In this regard Max has a long way to go, no matter how much the commentators pat him on the back.

[Ninja-Badger]

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.

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