Martin Brundle Calls For Max Verstappen 'Precedent' After Mexico GP 'Silliness'

Martin Brundle says Max Verstappen should have received a penalty after his lap one incident at the Mexico City Grand Prix - to act as a 'deterrent' to other drivers.

Verstappen was one of five drivers who left the track at turn one after running out of track on the outside, bypassing turns two and three as a result.

The Dutchman allowed Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton back through after rejoining the circuit, though Mercedes' George Russell claimed that he should have been let through as well.

Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, left the track after turn one and did not give the place back to Hamilton, despite various angles showing that the seven-time champion was clearly ahead - and gave ample room - at the point Leclerc decided to drive off the circuit.

None of the five drivers involved in the turn one incident was given a penalty, with Hamilton the only driver punished when he was deemed to have left the track and gained a lasting advantage on lap six while in battle with Verstappen.

The FIA stewards were criticised by some fans for their lack of consistency in punishing Hamilton but not drivers who committed similar infractions at the first corner.

And speaking on The F1 Show, Brundle has argued that reigning four-time world champion Verstappen should have also received a penalty.

"Max should have had a penalty," he began. "Because if you put your car on the far left in four abreast, it will go on the kerb.

"But Max had no intention [of making the corner]. You can see Max accelerate. Really skilful driving through the grass, I must say. But Max made no effort whatsoever to take turns one, two or three, and that should have been a penalty.

"Max took the risk on the outside, knowing full well he could just bury the throttle and carry on.

"[It was] The sort of thing if the fireproof boot had been on the other foot, Max would have been screaming about on the radio, saying he had no intention of making that corner. He didn't."

Brundle added that the move, regardless of which driver committed it, should have convinced the FIA to award a penalty as a 'deterrent' to stop others.

"I might even have given somebody doing what Max did, a drive-through, as a proper deterrent to stop the silliness, because then it all gets chaotic," he said.