Max Verstappen, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso have all received penalty points on their licenses following incidents during the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen was handed a five second time penalty during the race for an incident involving Kimi Raikkonen at the end of lap 1. Verstappen locked up heading into the final chicane and ran wide. He made slight contact with Kimi Raikkonen as he rejoined the track, pushing the Finn wide.
The stewards have now confirmed that it has dished out one penlty point to Verstappen for the incident. Stroll also received a time penalty after he was deemed guilty of pushing Fernando Alonso off the circuit heading into the final chicane.
Stroll was handed two penalty points while Alonso received one for cutting the chicane following the incident. The stewards noted that "although car 14 [Alonso] was forced off the track, car 14 thereafter cut the chicane and rejoined the track thereby gaining a significant advantage".
"I think it's difficult to understand the decision," Alonso said after the race. "This is how bad F1 is. There's poor consistency. One guy didn't see me, he came over to apologise and you still get a penalty, It's a shame, he didn't see me."
First round incident and Max gets punished. If he had driven straight, he would have cut the corner and gained an advantage. Whatever he does, he gets punished. Vettel maken a judging misstake and just gets away with it.
Penalty or no penalty, to me that is sort of beside the point. What is the point, and what baffles me, is that Verstappen actually thinks Räikkönen should have waited for him to get back on track again, and fallen in behind. Is he actually suggesting that when he makes a mistake by breaking too late, which results in him going off track, that other drivers should wait for him to correct that error? When you go off the track, it is your responsibility to yield for other drivers as you get on track again. Further, K-Mag also deserves penalty points for his dangerous maneuver on Leclerc.
@KEAN I think what he meant by that is that RAI could have then easily pass him on the inside. He got a penalty and served it and still finished ahead of the Ferraris
So much hatred towards one of the few guys that actually make F1 exciting to watch
The point isn't about the penalty for verstappen but the lack of any penalty for Vettel. It's an joke. Anytime that Verstappen has an decision it falls consistently against him where as if it concerns an Mercedes or Ferrari drivers it the decision falls in there favour.
@bhurt. Yes, I’m Dutch but every race they allow this kind of incidents in the first lap because the braking is hard on the cold tyres. Now Ferrari is involved he gets a penalty. Okay, Kimi got damaged but Max had a point that Kimi could have crossed behind him and take third place. There is just no consistancy in the stewards decissions which make it look personal instead of rule decided
"If he had driven straight, he would have cut the corner and gained an advantage."
He had no choice today. Would he drive straight, he would get a penalty too.
Red Bull is the unwanted competitor for Mercedes and Ferrari. Both of the teams prefer to fight with each other for top positions. Mercedes needs to beat the prestige of Ferrari. Ferrari needs someone to allow them to stay at the top, while using cheats and politics. There is no room for a team like Red Bull, a team that sells drinks instead of cars.
That being said, Verstappen is their enemy #1. If he puts one foot wrong, he will be penalized by the corrupt FIA system. It would only change, if he switches teams.
P.s. I'm not Dutch. I just like the colors.
"and what baffles me, is that Verstappen actually thinks Räikkönen should have waited for him"
Everyone with a little bit of understanding about racing knows what Verstappen means. Only fools are thinking, Raikkonnen "should wait until he rejoins the track". Unfortunately F1 aims for people without any knowledge and this is the result. Next time Verstappen should tell it twice, once for the idiots.
You are wrong @F1... The fact is he crossed the entire track to rejoin it while other drivers came at racing speed.
And it's naive to think, knowing Verstappen, that if Kimi had tried to cross behind him he wouldn't have defended like a maniac... He made a mistake, he deserved to pay the price for it. (And he did, serving a penalty that didn't even change the outcome)
Think of the old days, if that chicane had a sand trap he's outcome would've been worse.
All driver should treat track limits as if they were made of sand...
@DGUZ I m all for less concrete run off areas and more sand traps, but to say that drivers must treat the track limits as if they were sand is a bit naive as well. All drivers will find the limit and see how far they can go over it, if there s tarmac, they'll use it.
My biggest problem with this penalty thing is that other guys get penalties for a similar move VET made. I don t mind he didnt get a penalty, keeps racing exciting, but then don t dish them out to others for similar incidents
You hit the nail!
The incidents between Verstappen, Kimi and Vettel are non-debates to me. Ferrari hasnt been immune to penalties this year *cough, Silverstone, cough*, whereas Max can usually get away with anything and come out smelling like Dutch roses. Max had it coming when he drove straight across the racing line after being off-track, whereas it took two to the Max-Vet tango, so it was deemed a racing incident. Mind, What was Vettel doing this weekend? There wasnt a single right.
@Boudy, if you wait until every overtake, undercut was a dead cert. then we really would have a procession. The gap was there, Max is the master of ‘taking a punt’ and hoping he comes out best, he hadn’t got much to lose if he’d have spun, his season 5th has some safety in it. @Calle, shouldn’t it be ‘smellling of Dutch tulips;-)
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boudy
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And vettel no penalty? *look at team **ahh Ferrari thought so.