Four-time world champion Alain Prost has come to the defense of Max Verstappen. The Frenchman believes that the Red Bull driver should not be penalized for his tough ‘hard racer’ image when the FIA stewards assess incidents.
According to Prost, Verstappen’s aggressive driving style may have influenced the stewards’ decision two weeks ago when they reviewed the much-discussed crash between Verstappen and Norris in the final stages of the Austrian Grand Prix. Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty and two penalty points on his license for the incident. Despite this, he was classified fifth. On the other hand, Norris had to retire later due to the incident, where both suffered a puncture.
Verstappen was heavily criticized afterwards, particularly from the British side, for ‘moving under braking’. Prost sees it differently, as he told L’Equipe. According to him, it was just a racing incident.
‘Senna and Schumacher Shared the Same Reputation’
“It’s challenging for the stewards to judge incidents, even now when they have much more information at their disposal than we as spectators. We have to make do with what we see on television,” explains Alain Prost. “If you want to pass judgment, you always have to put yourself in the position of both drivers and not look at the name. Forget the image of a driver and try to be as objective as possible, no matter how difficult that is. I don’t think there was an aggressor and a victim. The crash was complex. I do agree with the judgment that Max was primarily responsible. He was penalized, although I think it was mainly an unfortunate racing incident.”
Prost continues: “Penalties should not be handed out based on reputation, but on facts. It’s nothing exceptional that you try to close the gap on the left if the next corner goes to the right. This prevents someone from overtaking you and has been happening as long as racing has existed. Yes, Max is a tough racer. It’s in his DNA and that’s not going to change. But it also makes him so strong and he should not pay the price for his tough image. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher had the same reputation as aggressive drivers.”
