Damon Hill is concerned about the increased risk of a “nasty episode” between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Belgian Grand Prix.
A four-week summer break may have allowed tensions to ease between the two championship contenders after what occurred at Silverstone and Hungaroring.
However, should Hamilton and Verstappen find themselves wheel-to-wheel again at Spa-Francorchamps, the 1996 world champion fears the consequences of any misjudgement would be severe.
“It’s another fast circuit like Silverstone,” said Hill on the F1 Nation podcast. “They’ve already shown they’re not afraid to tangle at high speed, but Spa’s a whole other level of risk. It is a concern.
Also Read:
- Verstappen expects ‘hard but fair’ racing with Hamilton
- Hamilton: Silverstone clash ‘bound to happen’ with over-aggressive Verstappen
- FIA defends Spa safety amid calls for Eau Rouge changes after 24 Hours crash
“I think if I was [FIA race director] Michael Masi, and I’d be in the drivers’ briefing for the weekend, I would be saying, ‘Listen guys, respect this place. It’s one of the fastest tracks we go to. We do not want to have any nasty episodes’.
“Of course, we have had some nasty episodes not so long ago, in the F2 races,” the Briton noted, referring to the incident which killed Anthoine Hubert at Raidillon in 2019.
“There is an extra risk, especially if it’s wet. They’ve had plenty of issues recently with the rain, but wet races at Spa are not for the faint-hearted.”
But having seen a 33-point lead become an eight-point deficit in just two races, and with the Orange Army in the grandstands, Hill believes Verstappen won’t be settling for anything less than a victory in Belgium.
“It’s not is it because it means the title is slipping away,” he said when it was suggested P2 would be a good result.
“He will not be looking at this weekend and thinking ‘I need to score points’, he will be looking at this weekend thinking ‘I need to win again. I need to make sure Lewis doesn’t win’.
“That’s the only way he’s going to become world champion this year, so it’s high pressure.”
The three-time Spa winner though does believes Hamilton can be a little more cautious.
“He’s got a little bit of a margin, hasn’t he,” added Hill. “It’s ebbed and flowed throughout the year.
“You have to look at your situation as it arises and do that calculation. I can imagine Lewis thinking ‘Putting myself in a position where, if I am second, passing Max might be a little too risky’.
“I can imagine he might go for a second-place if he had absolutely had to.
“But we are right to expect it is going to be an absolutely blinding race between these two between now and the end of the season.”