Jacques Villeneuve feels “Verstappen should’ve been penalized for his move on Charles Leclerc” at COTA. Jacques Villeneuve shares his thoughts on Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc's race start in COTA Sprint.

Sprint Start
One of the few heart-pounding moments during the Sprint of the United States Grand Prix was undoubtedly the start. Rarely had we seen Max Verstappen so aggressive and determined to maintain his first position, to the point of squeezing Charles Leclerc more and more, with the aim of preventing him from taking the lead into Turn 1.

In this display of strength, Max Verstappen came out on top, retaining the lead and then going on to win Saturday’s short race in Austin without any disturbance. Charles Leclerc had a less favorable outcome as he eventually had to yield the second place to a charging Lewis Hamilton.

Subsequently, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc discussed what happened, both between themselves in the parc fermé and during the press conference, without raising any controversy. The Dutchman explained that his move was the only option to prevent his rival from overtaking, while the Monegasque driver stated that he held no grudge against his opponent, as the move was tough but fair.

Jacques Villeneuve believed there should have been a penalty
Jacques Villeneuve, speaking to F1Tv, expressed his surprise at the lack of intervention by the Race Stewards, who, in his opinion, should have penalized Max Verstappen: “Charles Leclerc was pushed off the track, that’s too much. It was unnecessary. I don’t understand why the first lap should be evaluated differently; a dirty move or pushing a car to the limits of the track are things that should be investigated. At the start, it is possible to see more than one driver brake a little too late, but these things can happen. You can turn a blind eye to aggressiveness, but not when someone pushes another driver off the track.” – he pointed out.

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According to the 1997 Formula 1 world champion, Max Verstappen should have received a time penalty. The Red Bull champion won the Sprint with over a 9-second lead over Lewis Hamilton and a 17-second lead over Charles Leclerc.