Damon Hill praises Oscar Piastri, calls Red Bull a ‘wounded animal’ in title battle after F1 Spain GP. Damon Hill described Red Bull as a “wounded animal”.

The 1996 Formula 1 world champion’s tweet
“We have to start clawing back points,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner on the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. After the Monaco GP, Max Verstappen had dropped to 25 points behind Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ standings, and the first race without flexible wings was seen as a key opportunity for Red Bull.

Instead, the Dutchman left Barcelona 49 points behind the Australian, a blow triggered by a chaotic finale in which Mx Verstappen was left on hard tyres while all his rivals were on softs. The Milton Keynes team had opted for an aggressive strategy with one extra stop to try to match McLaren’s superior tyre management, but the final Safety Car left Red Bull without any tyre sets except the hard compound, which everyone else had discarded for the race (even the medium compound proved uncompetitive compared to the soft).

Max Verstappen made contact with George Russell at Turn 5 after being advised by the pit wall to let the Mercedes driver through due to a chicane cut, for which, however, Verstappen would not have been penalized. The collision with George Russell, instead, resulted in a 10-second penalty that dropped Max Verstappen to tenth place at the finish.

Damon Hill commented on the Spanish GP on X, praising race winner Oscar Piastri and highlighting Red Bull’s persistence, which can sometimes backfire: “Congrats to Oscar Piastri, he kept everything under control by capitalizing on the pole he brilliantly secured on Saturday. Red Bull is fighting with everything it has, but like a wounded animal, it’s difficult to handle. The title fight continues, and the show is guaranteed.”