Damon Hill: Max Verstappen's defending led to Lando Norris collision

The incident, which took place on Lap 64 of 71 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, has sparked significant debate within the motorsport community.

The collision between the two drivers resulted in substantial damage to both cars, effectively ending their bids for victory.

Lando Norris, unable to continue due to the severity of the damage, was forced to retire from the race. Max Verstappen, however, managed to nurse his car back to the pits and ultimately finished in fifth place.

Despite the setback, Verstappen's ability to finish the race allowed him to extend his lead in the championship standings.

However, the incident has cast a shadow over what could have been a thrilling conclusion to the race.

Former F1 World Champion Damon Hill weighed in on the incident during the Sky Sports F1 podcast, expressing his disappointment over the outcome.

"The tension built up beautiful and I think we were a little bit robbed of a fantastic climax to the race," said Hill.

"We'll never know what the outcome would have been. It looked to me like Lando had the pace and that's why Max had to do his, well, I'm going to call it fiendish defending, I'm sorry.

"Because I think that Max has got a reputation of not willingly giving up the lead without a massive fight. Okay, if you know that about Max, you have to approach him with a great deal of caution.

"But we have got these rules about how you go about racing. Now, the question is, did he break those rules? Or did Lando get a little bit too defensive in his rights as a racing driver to stand his ground?

"I think there was an element of, when he put his car in the position of the outside, he could have gone onto the kerb, but he decided, no I'm not moving. He's not supposed to change line and he's supposed to be give me enough room and the collision happened.

"It was sort of inevitable, it was sort of coming for a few laps."