Damon Hill delivers ‘very disappointing’ Max Verstappen quip after Belgian GP

Told by F1 commentator Harry Benjamin that he expected “a little bit more” from Max Verstappen at Spa, Damon Hill responded with sarcasm.

Quipping that it was a “very disappointing Max Verstappen performance,” 1996 World Champion Hill put the serious head back on to praise Charles Leclerc for a “fantastic job” keeping Verstappen at bay, admitting “you would put money” on Verstappen having been able to pull off an overtake on the Ferrari.

Max Verstappen at the Belgian GP: P4 a good result?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Red Bull arrived at Spa-Francorchamps with a major aero upgrade for its RB21, following on from a new floor introduced in Austria. The early signs were promising, as Verstappen held off the McLarens to take Sprint race victory.

McLaren struck back in qualifying, though, claiming a comfortable one-two on the grid. Verstappen qualified fourth, opting for a setup more likely to reward him in the wet Belgian GP, which was forecast.

The rain did arrive, but Verstappen found himself as one of the drivers unable to reap the rewards of that gamble. The race was delayed for 80 minutes, and by the time it got going, the dry tyres were already in use after eight laps.

Verstappen finished where he started in fourth, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium behind the lead McLarens, which had Hill dishing out the praise for Leclerc.

“Charles couldn’t fight the [McLarens]; he could keep ahead of the Red Bull though,” said Hill on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast.

“That’s a Red Bull with upgrades as well, with Max Verstappen driving at Spa. You really would put money on Max getting past him, wouldn’t you? So, he’d done a fantastic job there in the Ferrari. He’s able to use that car to keep himself ahead of Max.”

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At that point, host Harry Benjamin suggested that Verstappen underwhelmed in a Grand Prix which he has won three times, including from fourteenth on the grid in 2022.

“I almost expected a little bit more from Max Verstappen for this race,” he said. “Loves this track, loves these conditions. Winning the Sprint, obviously that was dry, but couldn’t get past that Ferrari, even with some new upgrades on board.”

Hill, seemingly a little taken aback by that suggestion, issued a sarcastic response.

“Yeah, very disappointing Max Verstappen performance there!” Hill quipped with a laugh to rubberstamp the sarcasm. “We’d expect more!”

Speaking after finishing fourth, Verstappen opened up on the difficulties of contesting a mainly dry Belgian GP with a wet RB21 setup, expressing disappointment in how Race Control had handled the race.

“It was quite difficult,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “On the intermediates, of course, we made a choice with the setup, and then they only allow us to drive in slick conditions, so yeah, that’s a bit disappointing.

“We spoke after Silverstone to be a little bit more cautious with the decisions, but this was the other extreme for me.

“And then the choice that we made with the setup of the car, yeah, was then the wrong one, because they didn’t allow us to race in the wet.

“Once we got to the dry tyres, we were just too slow in the straight, and then with the general balance problems that I already have with this car, it made everything just a bit worse.”

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