Verstappen receives two penalty points for unsafe release
- Published on 26 May 2019 17:23
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Max Verstappen has been handed two penalty points on his super license after he was released unsafely into the path of Valtteri Bottas during the Monaco Grand Prix.
Bottas backed up into Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel before entering the pit lane in order to create a gap to Hamilton ahead and not be held up while he was serviced.
Verstappen got the jump on Bottas and was released while the Finn was making his way past the Red Bull garage, which resulted in the two making contact.
After staying in front of Bottas, Verstappen received a five-second penalty and was bumped from second to fourth after the chequered flag.
Verstappen now has seven points on his license. Should a driver be issued 12 points over the period of 12 months, they will receive a race ban for the following event.
"Car 33 was released when car 77 was well within the guideboards entering the fast lane," read a statement. "The Stewards did note that the pit location of car 77 is within car 33’s guideboard and that the release was extremely close.
“However, Car 33 struck car 77 while continuing the move towards the fast lane and subsequently pulled ahead gaining a sporting advantage following the contact. The stewards believe that although ahead at the time the driver had the opportunity to avoid the contact contributing to the unsafe release.
“The stewards considered this an unsafe release from a pit stop and gaining a sporting advantage and penalised the car five seconds.”
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Replies (12)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Again punishing the driver for the team's error.
f1dave
Posts: 782
That's why the drivers championship is meaningless and has been for a few years now.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It is a contributing factor, but I find stuff like the ridiculous budgets, the PU allocations rules and the likes to be greater factors.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Hello! That's not what was said at all. The penalty was for intentionally causing a collision in the pitlane. Crashstappen at it again in Monaco.
Patentprutser
Posts: 392
In every other track this would have gone right. He’s punished by a narrow pitlane and if it was sn error, it was a fault of the team which cost Max. Mentally he is the winner of the GP today
Patentprutser
Posts: 392
2 penalty points for a team error. Ridiculous
Biggs7
Posts: 38
"The stewards believe that although ahead at the time the driver had the opportunity to avoid the contact contributing to the unsafe release."
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Exactly! He was penalized for intentionally causing a collision in the pitlane.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Not sure what he did wrong, bottas created the issue by holding both Ves/Vet up in order to help his teammate or gain advantage himself. He seems to be the only one that getting these type of penalties. Don't feel like justice was done .. but that's how F1 is these days.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
So much love for VER that people don't even see what is actually happening with him. He's reckless and caused a collision so he could gain an advantage. Everyone but VER fans can see this clearly.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Not true, the pitlane issue was cause by Bottas by holding up both Vettel and Verstappen, they entered the pit lane very close to each other . There was not a lot of room between the team so the angle is accute to get in the pit lan. They got serviced at the same time and RBR was slightly quicker than Mercedes, when released they were slightly in front. The penalty was harsh in my opinion but I wondered if he gotten this penalty if he was driving an Mercedes.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Also rule 27.4:
"At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly"
Bottas should have been punished since he drove his car unnecessarily slowly.