Martin Brundle reacts to Max Verstappen avoiding a penalty for Lewis Hamilton collision at Mexican Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided as the world champion attempted an overtake in the early stages of Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix. The stewards ruled that it was a racing incident.

Hamilton was running third and Verstappen fourth after a chaotic start to the race. On lap six, the Dutchman saw a gap at the first corner and went for it, catching his old rival by surprise.

The two drivers touched wheels, and Hamilton said Verstappen had pushed him wide on the radio. The scrap continued all the way down to turn four, with Mercedes driver George Russell involved.

Hamilton locked up and went across the grass, re-emerging in third with a clear buffer. The stewards penalised him for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Martin Brundle says Max Verstappen didn’t deserve a penalty, but Lewis Hamilton did

Speaking on Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast, Martin Brundle issued his verdict on how the battle was officiated. He says that Verstappen had ‘claimed’ the first corner against Hamilton.

Rather than viewing it as an ‘overoptimistic’ dive from Verstappen, he said it was pure ‘motor racing’. He’s backed the stewards’ decision of no penalty.

As for turn four, though, he thinks Hamilton deserved a 10-second sanction. He didn’t ‘go to a lot of trouble’ to give back the time he’d gained by cutting the corner.

“I read the driver guidelines again just before we did this podcast,” said Brundle. “For me, Max had done enough to claim the corner because he has to be alongside Lewis’ mirror at the apex. In fact, he was slightly ahead of his front axle. He owned the corner, he’s then entitled to take a normal racing line. He’s won that corner.

“Did he dive, was it overoptimistic? That’s in the regulations, and this is the grey area where you need a referee to make the decision. You could also call that motor racing – you’ve got to dive up the inside of somebody to actually overtake them.

“It’s very grey, and overall Lewis left the door open a little bit, Max went for it, was under control, didn’t lock his front axle up, therefore won the corner and was entitled to take the racing line. In the end, I wouldn’t have given Max a penalty for that.

“Lewis didn’t follow the route, had a big advantage and didn’t really go to a lot of trouble to hand it back again – either the position or 100m or 200m. Unless there are mitigating circumstances, that has to be a 10-second, not a five-second penalty.”

Max Verstappen ‘deserved a drive-through’ for lap-one incident

Reviewing the opening lap, though, Brundle took a dim view of Verstappen’s driving. The 28-year-old took the risk of positioning his car on the outside and then locked up before running onto the grass.

Verstappen almost ended up in the barriers, and he did drop back down to fourth when he returned to the circuit. But Brundle says he made no effort to follow the circuit at the start.

In fact, he suggested that Verstappen would have been ‘screaming’ if another driver had done the same. Brundle would have given him a drive-through penalty as a ‘deterrent’, and also handed 10 seconds to Charles Leclerc, who cut turn two as he fought Hamilton.

F1 fans think the Mexican Grand Prix circuit must be changed, and Brundle agreed that the ‘geography’ of the first three corners is ‘hopeless’.

He said: “100%, Max should have had a penalty. If you put your car on the far left and it’s four abreast, it will go on the kerb. But Max had no intention [of making the corner]. You can see Max accelerate – really skilful driving through the grass, I must say.

• READ MORE: George Russell agrees with Lewis Hamilton over incident with ‘lawnmower’ Charles Leclerc at Mexican Grand Prix

“Max made no effort whatsoever to take turns one, two or three. That should have been a penalty.

“The geography out there is just hopeless. It needs zones, it needs a place you’ve got to pass through, maybe even a zone where you have to proceed at pit-lane speed limit for 100 metres or 50 metres to make it as big a deterrent as a barrier in Monaco – then they won’t go out there. It’s as simple as that.

“Max took the risk on the outside knowing full well he could just bury the throttle. If the fireproof boot had been on the other foot, Max would have been screaming on the radio saying, ‘He had no intention of making that corner.’

“At least Charles made an attempt at turn one, didn’t like the way it was shaping up, so just ignored turn two, and that for me was a penalty was also a 10-second penalty.

“I might even have even given somebody doing what Max did a drive-through as a proper deterrent, to stop silliness.”

Verstappen is down to seven penalty points, having been sitting on a precarious 10 during the Mexico weekend.