Three penalty places for Verstappen in Sochi

The clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix is likely to continue to generate discussion for a long time. After the race, the sports commissioners imposed a three-place grid penalty on the Dutchman for the start of the Russian Grand Prix and two penalty points on his license.

An accident that could have been avoided. As Hamilton was leaving the pits after a failed pit stop, Verstappen was coming at high speed down the straight, finding himself next to his rival at the first turn. The current championship leader insisted and the two drivers collided. Verstappen’s car ended up on top of the Mercedes, causing both drivers to retire.

« The commissioners heard the driver of car 33 (Max Verstappen), the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), and the team representatives, and examined the video evidence and determined that the driver of car 33 was mainly responsible for the collision with car 44 at turn 2.

As we suspected, the two drivers gave two different versions. Verstappen claimed that the seven-time world champion “pushed” him to the top of turn 2, not leaving him enough space to pass. On Hamilton’s side, he feels that the Dutchman tried to pass very late and should have aborted his move, either by braking earlier or by taking the escape route. After watching the footage of the accident, the race officials sided with Hamilton. While the latter could move away, Verstappen’s maneuver was executed too late, causing the inevitable.

According to the sports commissioners, this maneuver was attempted too late by the driver of car 33. While car 44 could have moved away to avoid the incident, the commissioners determined that its position was reasonable and therefore concluded that the driver of car 33 was primarily responsible for the incident.

Red Bull does not want to appeal

If the main party involved feels that Hamilton did not leave him enough space to pass, Red Bull does not intend to appeal the decision of the sports officials. Christian Horner, the team principal, believed that the accident was the result of a racing incident and prefers to emphasize the safety of the cars’ halo.

Translate: « We are disappointed with the three-place grid penalty, but we accept the decision of the stewards. We believe it was a genuine racing incident. […] It’s frustrating and disappointing to see both cars out of the race in this exciting championship. The main thing today is that the halo ultimately did its job and it’s certainly not the way we intended to finish the race. »