Damon Hill reacts to Max Verstappen being awarded the driver of the day for the F1 Spanish GP

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill gave a shocked reaction to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen being awarded the driver of the day at the end of the 2025 Spanish GP on Sunday, June 1. The Dutch driver had a tricky afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya as he started the race from P3 but made up a position off the line to move behind McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.

However, he was unable to sustain his position against Lando Norris and was overtaken before the first round of pit stops. He and the Austrian team switched to a three-stop strategy, which was able to keep them in the hunt for a possible victory against the McLaren duo, but the late safety car changed their outcomes.

At the safety car restart, Max Verstappen found himself battling against Charles Leclerc and George Russell. After he was passed by the Ferrari driver, he and Russell banged wheels in Turn 1, the 27-year-old went off the track to keep his P4.

When Verstappen was instructed to give his position to Russell, fearing a penalty, the former lost his head and rammed into the side of the latter while seemingly giving him the position. The incident got the Red Bull driver a 10-second penalty, which demoted him to P10 after the race.

Despite his actions, Max Verstappen was given the 'Driver of the Day' award by the F1 fans, which left many, including Damon Hill, confused. The 1996 world champion took to his Instagram Story to share his surprised reaction with an emoji.

Snapshot of Hill's Story on Max Verstappen...Credits- @96f1champ on Instagram

Owing to his P10 finish, Verstappen walked away from the Spanish GP with just a single point to his name.

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Max Verstappen reflects on his P10 finish in Spain

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that it was a "shame" for him that he was caught out by the timing of the safety car in the final few laps of the Spanish GP.

Speaking with F1.com, the four-time F1 world champion said:

“It was a shame that the safety car came out and we were unlucky that we had to pit. That is racing though, sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn’t. The only fresh tyres that we had at the end were hards, so we made the call to change to these when everyone was on softs."

"Unfortunately, the hard tyres have very low grip, which was quite frustrating, and it made things a lot more difficult. We only had six laps, so the others could go flat out, and we struggled quite a bit. When we went into the restart, we got into a tricky situation and gave the place back. What happened there happened, and we got a ten-second penalty."

Max Verstappen now sits in P3 in the driver standings - 49 points behind leader Oscar Piastri and 39 points behind Lando Norris.