"Poor take as per from Horner's fanboyz": Fans react to David Croft defending Max Verstappen's penalty in the George Russell incident

F1 fans were left raging after Sky Sports commentator David Croft defended Red Bull driver Max Verstappen getting a 10-second penalty for his controversial incident with George Russell. The Dutch driver was penalized for ramming into the side of the British driver's car in the final few laps of the race last weekend.

The four-time F1 world champion was displeased by his team's decision to give his P4 to Russell after the safety car restart. Verstappen expressed his frustration by banging into the side of the 27-year-old's car and then giving up his position.

While many believed that Max Verstappen should have gotten a harsher punishment, David Croft on the Sky F1 podcast defended the stewards' decision to give a 10-second penalty and said:

"I think the 10-second penalty was right, because it was a chunk of points that got taken away, and that, to me, is damaging - and therefore is a proper punishment. But it's those three penalty points - puts him on 11 now. One more penalty point, and he gets a race ban. He's got two races until his next points come off," Croft said.

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to David Croft's comments about Verstappen on X, with one fan claiming:

"Poor take as per from horner's fanboyz."

Lord Clutters

@Lordclutters

Poor take as per from Horner's fanboyz

"Shock, Croft ‘agrees’ that Max gets penalties! 2021 Max WDC"

Marco

@Marcoacarini

Shock, Croft ‘agrees’ that Max gets penalties! 2021 Max WDC

Here are some more reactions

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"Poor journalism on display here. These guys are exactly what’s wrong with this sport," said a fan.

"All these guys have a soft underbelly. Listen @SkySportsF1 just negotiate with @NicoRosberg and get him on all the time. These other guys are completely useless. Nico says it as it is. Even when asking team principals questions. I love the way he gave it to Fred about the car," wrote a fan.

"@karunchandhok and @CroftyF1 need to do more research before speaking about this.Max shouldn't benefit from the one point gained by him and the team. It was, again, a lenient penalty," suggested another.

"Sky sports don’t want to upset Horner and dear old Helmut Marko do they?!" claimed another.

Apart from the 10-second penalty, which meant that Max Verstappen finished the race in P10, the Dutch driver was given three penalty points on his FIA Super License.

F1 pundit gives his verdict on Max Verstappen's penalty

Former F1 driver and pundit Karun Chandhok believed that the 10-second penalty was "fine" as the black flag would have just taken as an additional point away from Max Verstappen.

Speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, the former Caterham driver said:

"I thought 10 seconds was fine. It is one of those things that you have to look at how it is going to impact him, and in the end, the black flag would have cost him another point, but three penalty points is actually more important.

"Because the one point in the championship is not a big deal, so I think it was right what was awarded to him."

Max Verstappen is just one point away from a race ban and will have to be on his best behavior until the Austrian GP, when two penalty points will be scrapped off.