Verstappen survives stewards investigation to retain victory
- Published on 30 Jun 2019 19:45
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Max Verstappen has retained his win in Austria after the stewards decided not to hand him a time penalty for his late-race overtake on Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen closed in on the Monegasque driver after hunting down his other rivals following his poor start, which saw him drop to the lower reaches of the points.
The stewards determined that the clash was a racing incident and that neither were to blame for the coming together.
The Dutchman secures his sixth career win and his first since last year's Mexican Grand Prix.
Ferrari's wait for a race win goes on, as it has not won a race since the 2018 US Grand Prix when now Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen held of Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the win.
"The Stewards reviewed video evidence, heard from the driver of car 33 (Max
Verstappen), the driver of car 16 (Charles Leclerc) and team representatives and
determined the following," read the stewards' statement.
"Car 33 sought to overtake car 16 at Turn 3 on lap 69 by out-braking car 1. When doing so, car 33 was alongside car 16 on the entry of the corner and was in full control of the car while attempting the overtaking move on the inside of car 16.
"However, both car 33 and car 16 proceeded to negotiate the corner alongside each other but there was clearly insufficient space for both cars to do so. Shortly after the late apex, while exiting the corner, there was contact between the two cars.
"In the totality of the circumstances, we did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. We consider that this is a racing incident.
"Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Article 9.1.1 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits."
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Replies (11)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
yes!
dr002
Posts: 141
I'm a Redbull fan, however I do think Max was very lucky to get away with this one, likely because it was at his, and his team's, home race and there would have been a paddock revolt had any other decision been made.
From Leclerc's on-board there was no doubt that he would have made the corner had it not been for Max running into him. From Max's on-board it was clear he went into the corner far too fast to avoid running Leclerc off the track, what's more his post race comment that the inside crest of the corner made it hard to corner more sharply only furthered justification for the imposition of a 5 sec penalty. Ultimately however, the question should be what would have happened had there been a wall on the outside of the corner, and there is no doubt Max would have caused an accident that would have put both drivers out.
Nevertheless, I reckon Max definitely deserved driver of the day, and the race WAS great to watch!
Even more excitingly, the stewards have now confirmed that a more 'anything-goes' approach has been confirmed as being acceptable (so long as the stewards are consistent with their future application of the rules), meaning Leclerc can put this incident in the bank for future duals with Max, which will make things very interesting for sure!
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Good! They did it right, take their time to at least let salty Ferrari fans feel like they got their piece of flesh. However, the reality is that this was nowhere near being a punishable incident. What happened is what you always see when someone runs out of track while on the outside line. The difference here is that Leclerc tried hard to make it stick (for which I applaud him) and they touched. Racing indicent. A pretty awesome one too.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It was a pretty complete weekend as a whole, wasn't it? A great, interesting quali session, a race with lots of overtakes, lots of stuff happening and close calls and things not going according to plan.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Oh, and that podium ceremony was adorable. :3
f1dave
Posts: 782
It took three hours, seems more a political decision than a technical one.
Aswin
Posts: 14
Yes. They would have considered the safety of stewards too
boudy
Posts: 1,168
AJP said had it right, nowhere near a penalty however with the pressure that Ferrari heaped on the FIA it caused some issue. When a driver goes on the inside and is on the racing line he basically has the corner, the other driver has to relent, Leclerc did not and actually turned into Verstappen after he coincided the corner.
Still i was worried since there have been penalties given to Verstappen that involved Ferrari before.
The whole duration of this pointed to giving Verstappen a penalty and gifting the win to Ferrari. I was surprised that the stewards actually decided against a penalty, glad they did though since all drivers including Leclerc/Vettel want this issue sorted out on the track.
To quote Vettel/Verstappen: "This is racing" and I loved every second of it
Dert38
Posts: 377
Big SHAME. Lame move! In same situation, same corner Nico had a PENALTY!!! Marketing lame decision from FIA. It's RACING, not CRAZY BOXING!!!
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F.e. Vettel comes, gives Max a shot under the guise before qualy 3 lap. Some level of justice ))))
Patentprutser
Posts: 392
Right. Rosberg drove straight ahead and did not turn in. Just cut the b*llshit. This is what we want to see and now everyone is complaining because it is Max. Let them race!!
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Apples and oranges. According to stewards you can not compare those events, you have to look at each situation own its merits. Correct call great stewarding as with the Vettel issue. They called it right in both situations.