For his part in the incident that sent Max Verstappen to the hospital, Jos Verstappen believes the officials should have disqualified Lewis Hamilton from the British Grand Prix.
The rivalry between the two championship contenders erupted on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, when they clashed.
At the high-speed Copse corner, Hamilton’s front left collided with Verstappen’s rear right, sending the Red Bull driver off the track and into the barrier.
Verstappen was damaged and wounded by the 51G incident, and the 23-year-old was sent to hospital for further examinations after complaining of dizziness.
The stewards slapped Hamilton with a 10-second time penalty for being “predominantly at fault” for the incident, and he went from second to fourth as he served it when he came in for his pit stop.
To win the grand race, the Mercedes driver quickly overcame Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas, and lastly Charles Leclerc.
Jos Verstappen is dissatisfied.
“It really can’t be what Hamilton did there, in that place,” he said to De Telegraaf. “I think a 10-second time penalty is really ridiculous.
“As far as I’m concerned, they could have disqualified him from the race.
“Max ggave him space and just sat in front of him, so you can’t overtake on the inside.”
Hamilton is only eight points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship after his eighth British Grand Prix win.
A furious Christian Horner said the punishment of a 10-second penalty was too lenient for Hamilton’s actions, and Jos isn’t the only one calling for a ban.
He told Channel 4 that the “penalty doesn’t fit the crime”.
“It’s a desperate move that you wouldn’t expect from a seven-time World Champion,” he added.
“He’s seen no penalty for the action that he took. It doesn’t fit with the action or the move he made.
“You look at in previous years,” he continued, “drivers have missed future events because of first lap incidents like that.”
Helmut Marko, a Red Bull advisor, believes a one-race ban is also in order.
“You can’t do that with the normal sporting code. I don’t know what the maximum penalty would be, but such dangerous and reckless behaviour should be punished with a suspension or something,” Marko told Sky Germany.
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