Damon Hill, the 1996 World Champion, has expressed surprise that Max Verstappen was awarded the Driver of the Day award at the Spanish Grand Prix.

It came despite the Red Bull star being hit with a 10-second penalty for an ugly collision with Mercedes driver George Russell.

Max Verstappen scoops Spanish GP Driver of the Day award despite FIA penalty

Verstappen’s race turned upside down during a late Safety Car period in Barcelona, where he was pitted on to hard tyres ahead of the final restart.

The switch left him looking behind rather than ahead when the race resumed, with Verstappen catching a dramatic slide on the exit of the final corner before making slight contact with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on the pit straight.

Having lost third place to Leclerc, Verstappen collided with Russell moments later as the Mercedes driver attempted to capitalise on the situation with the Red Bull taking to the run-off area.

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The reigning four-time World Champion was angered by Red Bull’s request to give the place up to Russell to avoid a penalty, slowing on the short straight leading to Turn 5.

However, Verstappen then accelerated on the approach to the corner and made firm contact with Russell.

Verstappen went on to finish fifth on the road, but dropped to 10th in the final classification after incurring a 10-second penalty.

Despite the chaotic end to his afternoon, Verstappen’s otherwise impressive performance on race day – which saw him use an alternative strategy to apply pressure on the leading McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris – saw him land the Driver of the Day award for Spain.

Verstappen scooped 19.7 per cent of the votes, with race winner Piastri next behind with 14.5 per cent.

Nico Hulkenberg was also recognised for securing a fine fifth for the lowly Sauber team, taking 10.6 per cent of the votes.

Leclerc (9.6%) and Norris (9.3%) completed the top five.

Taking to Instagram’s story function, which allows images and video clips to appear for a 24-hour period, Hill expressed incredulity that Verstappen had won the fan vote.

The 1996 World Champion, who has been a vocal critic of Verstappen over recent years, offered no comment, simply posting a wide-eyed emoji often used to convey shock.

Hill’s latest comment at Verstappen came after he accused the Red Bull driver of going too far “as usual” in his battle with Russell.

Asked if Verstappen’s conduct on track had reminded him of his flashpoints with Michael Schumacher, Hill replied: “It was a little ill-judged.

“Maybe he thought he’d done enough to satisfy the ‘giving back the place’ bit?

“The rest was over the top. As usual.”

Hill went on to warn that Verstappen and a “dangerous” Red Bull cannot be ruled out of the F1 2025 title race despite falling 49 points behind championship leader Piastri, who collected his fifth win of the season in Spain.

He added: “Well done Oscar Piastri. Had it all under control from a dominant pole.

“Red Bull are fighting with everything they’ve got. But like a wounded animal, they are dangerous to approach.

“Title seesaw continues. Long way to go. Drama guaranteed.”

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Having initially shown little remorse for his move on Russell in the immediate aftermath of the race, Verstappen confessed on Monday that it “was not right and shouldn’t have happened.”

Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss, also confirmed that Verstappen had apologised to the team during his post-race debrief in Barcelona.

Verstappen said in a post on social media: “We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out.

“Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened.

“I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high.

“You win some together, you lose some together.

“See you in Montreal.”

In addition to his in-race time penalty, Verstappen was also handed three penalty points on his superlicence for his clash with Russell.

It has put him on the brink of a one-race ban with Verstappen on 11 points for the current 12-month period.

Under F1’s current penalty system introduced in 2014, drivers automatically trigger a one-race ban if they accumulate 12 penalty points inside a 12-month window, with former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen becoming the first to reach the threshold last season.

Verstappen’s penalty points tally is not set to reduce until June 30, when the two points he received for causing a collision with Lando Norris at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix are wiped.

It means the Red Bull driver must tread carefully over the next two race weekends in Canada and Austria to avoid a ban.

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