An intriguing note at the bottom of the stewards’ decision says that “it was noted that the representative of car 22 [Tsunoda] chose not to attend the hearing.” The inference inevitably drawn from this statement is that AlphaTauri skipped the hearing to minimize the chances of a driver from sister team Red Bull receiving a penalty.
In reality the issue is more complicated than that, because the Faenza team did not receive a formal summons to participate in the hearing. Usually, in cases of impediment the summons take place in pairs, with both parties invited to appear at a set time.
In this case, the episode between Verstappen and Tsunoda seems to have been influenced by a completely separate case that emerged in qualifying, namely the one involving Logan Sargeant and Lance Stroll, with the American under investigation for allegedly obstructing the Aston Canadian Martin.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
However, Stroll was the victim of a heavy accident at the end of Q1, which forced him to go to the FIA medical delegate. From what has emerged, the stewards decided not to issue a formal summons for his presence, presumably because they believed they had enough evidence to examine without speaking to the Canadian.
Instead, Aston Martin was sent an informal invitation – which was delivered via WhatApp – for sporting director Andy Stevenson to attend Sargeant’s hearing should he wish to do so. However, Stevenson was with Stroll and the medical team at the time, and arrived at the commissioners minutes after the hearing concluded.
In their verdict, the commissioners noted “that the representative of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team was not present at the time of the hearing, but went to the commissioners’ room after the end of the hearing.”
Having taken an informal approach with Aston and Stroll, the same approach appears to have been taken with AlphaTauri. Without a formal summons, which the teams consider a mandatory request, AlphaTauri did not appear at the hearing.
Team principal Franz Tost confirmed to Motorsport.com that the team has not lodged any complaints with the FIA regarding Verstappen. It is logical to assume that if the team had been represented at the hearing they would not have pushed for a penalty anyway, for obvious reasons given the relationship between the teams.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the final verdict has been influenced, as the stewards have plenty of evidence at their disposal with which to make such decisions without hearing the driver concerned.
#Impeding #Verstappen #AlphaTauri #skip #hearing