Hill blasts poor loser Verstappen over criticism of F1 Motorsport Week sprint format

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1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill called Max Verstappen a sore loser following his criticism of the new sprint format.

Verstappen has voiced his opposition to the alternate calendar since the start of the sprint in 2021.

For 2023, a new format has been introduced, with separate qualifying sessions determining the starting grids for the sprint race and the grand prix.

But Verstappen has urged F1 to abandon the new format altogether and revert to the traditional format for every race to come.

Verstappen’s comments were not well received by Sky Sports F1 pundit Hill.

We should just give the championship to Max Verstappen and not worry about anything else, Hill said.

Dirty. Poor loser. It’s the same competition. He should think about tomorrow and the championship and put it behind him.

Verstappen endured a tough sprint race in Baku starting from third on the grid, he was demoted to fourth on the first lap following a battle with Mercedes George Russell.

The duo made contact at the second corner, which resulted in a hole in the sidepod of the Verstappens RB19 car.

The couple were involved in a heated exchange after the race in which Verstappen called Russell an asshole.

Hill suggested the clash was simply a racing incident and says Verstappen exhibits a mentality that has been displayed by some successful champions in the past.

It’s the kind of mindset you see in the kind of people like [Michael] Schumacher and [Ayrton] Senna, they won’t accept that they have a role to play in what’s going on, Hill said.

If you think back to, say, Monza, with Lewis Hamilton, he just didn’t back down. So he did it himself.

He’s a hard runner, they’re both hard runners, George and Max, and that’s what happens when you get a rock and a hard place together.

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