Damon Hill issues verdict on Max Verstappen incident with Lewis Hamilton during Miami Sprint

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Damon Hill thinks Max Verstappen made a “good attempt” at overtaking fierce rival Lewis Hamilton during the F1 Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix despite forcing him off.

Verstappen and Hamilton revived their bitter rivalry during the Sprint in Miami this Saturday, in what ultimately proved to be a duel to seal sixth and seventh place. Red Bull have brought a host of updates for the RB22 to Florida that have bridged some of their deficit to the front.

A post-race five-second penalty given to Mercedes gem Andrea Kimi Antonelli for exceeding track limits also promoted Verstappen up to P5. Hamilton could not benefit from Antonelli’s penalty after the Ferrari racer lost 8.026s to Red Bull rival Verstappen after their fight ended.

Verstappen had hit the chequered flag in P6 with a 13.639s deficit as McLaren driver Lando Norris won the Miami Sprint. But Antonelli’s time penalty demoted him to P6, with a mere 0.138s margin then giving Verstappen an extra position after making his way past Hamilton.

Lando Norris heads the Miami Sprint podium! Is Mercedes’ dominance already over?

Kimi Antonelli was the lead Mercedes driver but only took the finish in P4 before a penalty

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Damon Hill thinks Max Verstappen made a ‘good attempt’ when forcing Lewis Hamilton off in the Miami Sprint

Verstappen’s duel with Hamilton had initially seen history repeat itself when the 28-year-old first tried to take P6 from the 41-year-old on Lap 8/19. The Dutchman dived down the inside at Turn 11 after seeing the Briton leave the door open, but he took them both off the circuit.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Miami Grand Prix, plus weather forecast

Hamilton tried to hang on around Verstappen’s outside, so the Red Bull driver eased off the brakes to ensure he made the apex first. But doing so meant Verstappen would not stay on the track and ultimately had to yield the place back to Hamilton to avoid drawing a penalty.

Hill did not see anything wrong with Verstappen using “all the road” to try to get in front of Hamilton in the Sprint at the Miami GP. The 1996 champion instead described it as the Red Bull racer attempting to use his “inimitable style” to get ahead of Hamilton at the first go.

Hill said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 (02/05, 17:17): “You’d have to say it was a good pass attempt by Max. I mean, he actually got down the inside, and it was almost as if everyone else was going too slowly.

“They were sort of concertinaing up, and almost as if Lewis had to kind of back out of it. And Max just went for the gap. And famously, in his own inimitable style, goes very deep and uses all the road.”

Hamilton was not pushing too hard approaching Turn 11 when Verstappen saw his chance to attempt an overtake, as Mercedes duo Antonelli and George Russell were duelling over P4 directly in front. But Verstappen had to accept that he needed to give the position back.

Ultimately, the move did not have any lasting effects on either of their races, as Verstappen made a move on Hamilton stick soon after. As Hamilton again chose not to try to defend at Turn 17 on Lap 10, Verstappen sent his RB22 to the inside and started to open up his lead.