Alonso and Hamilton defend 'exceptional' Verstappen

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have defended Max Verstappen following criticism from drivers for his defending during the Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen came in for severe criticism from Ferrari pair Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel after robust fights with Raikkonen during the race at Spa-Francorchamps. While a number of other drivers also believe Verstappen pushes the boundaries too far on occasion, Alonso says the 18-year-old did nothing wrong in Belgium.

"I think there is a rule you cannot move under the braking zone, so you cannot move when a car is alongside you," Alonso said. "There is one movement allowed and as long as you are still in front of the car behind."

Asked if that meant Verstappen's defending against Raikkonen on the Kemmel Straight was OK, Alonso replied: "Yeah.

"Regarding Max, on the long straight I don’t think Kimi was side by side, Max moved and put Kimi on the grass. It was very late and maybe he didn’t judge where Kimi was, but Kimi’s still behind. The rule, as written, is still good."

And while Hamilton would not be drawn on specifics, the triple world champion says Verstappen's age should be remembered when analysing his performances.

"Personally I don’t have an opinion about it because it’s nothing to do with me," Hamilton said. "I try not to get involved in other peoples’ business. He’s a quick, fast driver. He’s learning. He’s young - only 18 years old. Most of us when we were 18 years old were doing some silly s**t, I’m pretty sure. This guy has a GP win under his belt and is an exceptional driver. That’s all I see."

Claire Williams on Felipe Massa and 2017 driver plans

Romain Grosjean column: Speed, sponsors and scheduling

2016 Italian Grand Prix preview

Technical snapshot - Belgium

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.