Damon Hill has leapt to his own defence and that of Sky F1, claiming Red Bull cannot accept criticism of Max Verstappen and “unfairly” pull the British-biased card tactically against the broadcaster.

Hill – who made it clear he is “not anti-Max”, also claimed the four-time F1 World Champion would “cry like a baby” if the roles were reversed on his driving which attracted stern criticism from Hill last season.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull face blunt Hill criticism

Having been a part of the Sky F1 team as a pundit since they obtained the live F1 broadcasting rights for the UK and Ireland in 2012, 1996 World Champion Hill departed at the end of 2024, after a season where Hill had found himself in the headlines for scolding Verstappen.

It was after the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix – where Verstappen received a pair of 10-second time penalties for incidents with title rival Lando Norris – that Hill branded Verstappen incapable of fair racing, that race coming a week after Norris had been penalised in Austin for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, having returned to the track ahead of Verstappen who ushered them both off.

“The problem that Max has is he simply refuses to concede any turf at all, to anyone, in an overtake. So that’s the situation,” said Hill on the Sky F1 podcast after the Mexican GP.

“It is possible to race fairly and that is something I’m not sure that Max is capable of – it’s not in his repertoire. It’s not in his philosophy. His philosophy is that ‘You’re not coming past.’”

Hill would also liken Verstappen to Dick Dastardly, the Wacky Races television cartoon villain.

Hill and his former Sky F1 colleague and steward Johnny Herbert – who was also critical of Verstappen at times in F1 2024 – found themselves under the microscope for their comments, with both Max and his father Jos Verstappen making suggests of bias in the British media.

At one stage, after a stunning wet-weather drive to victory which effectively secured Verstappen’s fourth straight title and ended Lando Norris’ hopes, Verstappen quipped in the post-race press conference that UK reporters had “run to the airport”.

And in an interview with The Telegraph, Hill had some new stern words for Verstappen and his Red Bull team, Hill taking “issue” with how he feels Verstappen can do no wrong in their eyes.

“I’m not anti-Max,” he insisted. “This is the point. I think Max is brilliant. I like him. I mean what’s not to like? He’s sensational.

“But when I felt he overstepped the mark, I said so. And I think Red Bull have a responsibility, their team management has a responsibility, to the sport you know? If their driver goes over the limit on occasion, they have a responsibility to say ‘You can’t do that.’ And they don’t.

“That’s always been my issue with them. That they have almost given Max carte blanche and protected their driver from not sticking to the code, if you like.

“I’ll give you an example, Max [last year] correctly interpreted to his advantage the rule about overtaking and being ahead at the apex on the inside. There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t do that. And it’s exciting to see people dive down the inside. Except that no other driver does it. And if someone was to do it to him, he’d cry like a baby.

“And that’s one of my issues with them. Red Bull simply can’t accept that. No, it really is slightly disappointing, to say the least, that they like to be thought of as the hard kids on the block, but when something doesn’t go their way, they cry about it.”

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And Hill also believes that Red Bull fuel the concept of a British-biased Sky F1 for tactical purposes.

It was back in 2022 that Red Bull launched a short-lived boycott of Sky F1, withdrawing media privileges for its UK, Italy and Germany branches, after Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz had claimed Britain’s seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton was “robbed” of a record eighth title at the controversial 2021 title-decider in Abu Dhabi, where Verstappen secured his first title.

“Red Bull fight their corner very forcefully,” Hill claims. “And they don’t like criticism of Max. And they didn’t like, particularly, some of the things that were said.

“On the whole they’ve always taken the view that Sky are British-centric and biased, which is really unfair I think. Actually, I think there is a desire [the other way]. I don’t think Sky want to be accused of being biased at all. I think they want to be a fair broadcaster of the sport – credit where credit’s due and all that.

“They also do not want to be denied access to a very important figure in this sport.

“And I think Red Bull know that, and they apply pressure if they need to.

“As I say, I like Max. What I don’t like is jingoism. And I don’t like the fact that it became a ‘You’re against us because we’re not British’ and all that nonsense, which was used as a way of pressuring us. It’s utterly unfair to suggest that there is any kind of anti-Dutch thing going on. What can you do? I thought I was there to express my opinion.”

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