Talking the two overtaking attempts where Verstappen regained the lead (Lap 59 and Lap 63).
Palmer chastices Verstappen for "moving a bit" under braking in those situations, which Verstappen did do, and say he should perhaps have gotten a warning or a penalty. However, he forgets that part of the original moving under braking rule had the condition, that it's only illegal if it forces another driver to take evasive action. Norris didn't take evasive action on any of those laps, and as such, by the original rule, it's not an illegal move on those two laps. It's good defense.
Here's the rule as it was introduced in 2016, Since then, the rule has just been baked in under "dangerous" or "erratic" driving:
With this in mind, and with the exception of any move permitted by Article 27.6, any change of direction under braking which results in another driver having to take evasive action will be considered abnormal and hence potentially dangerous to other drivers. Any such move will be reported to the stewards.
As per my previous post though, and Palmer also touches on this, it was clearly a very illegal move on Lap 55 where Verstappen sweeps across the track. But lap 59 and 63? Completely legitimate defense.
The second part i disagree with, although i won't necessarily call it a factual mistake by Palmer, is the Lap 63 overtake being legitimate and Verstappen being able to stop the car and remain on track. While Verstappen did go off the brake middle of the corner and did a very slight bit of throttle, i absolutely do not see him being able to stop the car and making the corner with Lando diving there, looking at the onboards. While Lando did remain on the track himself this time, this is clearly a too deep and too late divebomb, and he forces Verstappen to make a correction on the steering wheel. That correction is what caused Verstappen to go off, even had he remained on the brake - and since it was forced by Lando, this cannot be reasonably judged as anything but forcing another driver off the track.
SlowMotion Video.
Verstappen have been critisized (and occasionally punished) for similar moves himself, and i definitely do not see this as a great dive. It was a little bit too deep and too late, even if Lando remained on track. On a discussion with Dialtone on race day in the Discord, we both agreed that it's time that the FIA start policing those type of divebombs. They were both racing dirty.
(on a sidenote, Verstappen saying "That's not how you overtake" is massively ironic, since he does it himself all the time)
