Was Max Verstappen poorly positioned on his grid marks during the last standing start?
According to footage of the race, the Red Bull driver appeared to have positioned himself beyond his line during the second standing start, but that is not the case.
We remember the FIA’s persistence towards Esteban Ocon during the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain, where he received an initial penalty for not positioning himself properly on his grid marks at the start. After failing to carry out this penalty correctly, he then received a 10-second sanction.
Then, at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it was Fernando Alonso who received a five-second penalty for also being poorly positioned on the grid. While the Aston Martin driver accepted the penalty, he complained about the low visibility of the cars and the difficulty in positioning the car within the markings.
The FIA rule concerns the incorrect starting position, which has been modified this year to state that a driver whose four wheels are not at the front and on the sides of the mark of their position on the grid will be considered to be in the incorrect position.
Now, after the second red flag of this <a href="/f1/actualite/30044-grand-prix-daustralie-max-verstappen-remporte-course-surrealiste-marquee-par-trois-drapeaux-rouges.html" title="The Red Bull driver emerged as the winner of a race marked by numerous accidents, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
"Completely surreal Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen seems to have positioned himself well ahead of his starting position, according to a race image. But contrary to appearances, it was not the case."
« It did indeed seem that Max Verstappen was outside of his grid box, so I decided to examine the start of Max Verstappen from pole position a bit more closely and, of course, from the angle that was shown on the television footage, it does appear that he is in front of the white grid box », explained technical expert Sam Collins on F1TV. »
This provision is defined in Article 48 of the sports regulations: « Penalties provided for in Articles 54.3a), 54.3b), or 54.3c) shall be imposed on any driver who is deemed to have: 48.1 (c) any part of the front tire contact area outside the front and side lines at the time of the starting signal. »
After a slightly more in-depth investigation, it turns out that it is actually a small light manipulation, a camera angle trick. In fact, Max Verstappen's wheels, the front wheels, the front tires, are in contact with the white line on the starting grid, which is the important factor here, continues Sam Collins.
The regulation states that no part of the tire, the contact patch – meaning the portion of the wheel that actually touches the ground – can be located in front of this white line, but the contact patch is just, give or take a few millimeters, fully in contact with the white line. Verstappen's car is therefore compliant with the regulation, the expert concludes.
The Dutchman was therefore at the absolute limit in order to take maximum advantage at the standing start, without being in violation. In a post-race interview, the main character even admitted that he had slightly moved forward after his initial stop, as seen in the TV footage, because he believed he had a little more margin. « To be honest with you, I think I braked a little late and lost my references a bit. But then, I looked and thought to myself: 'Ah, I still have a little margin'. So I moved forward a bit. It was really at the limit. But at the limit, it's not beyond the limit! It was quite difficult with the sun at the end. Visibility, especially in turns 1 and 3, was very poor. »
Moreover, following the issues encountered by Ocon and Alonso during the first two Grand Prix, the FIA decided to widen the starting boxes by 20 centimeters and add a visual reference in the center to facilitate the positioning of the car by the drivers.
