World Cup leaders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had to report to the stewards in Jeddah tonight. Three hours after the race, the decision was made: Verstappen gets an extra ten seconds in the result and also two penalty points on his license. This does not change anything for the outcome of the race, or the world title fight.
It was an incident on lap 37 of the sensational first Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia. Max Verstappen was told by his team that he had to return the leading position to Lewis Hamilton for an earlier moment. Then the Dutchman went off the gas, firmly and clearly. But the Briton did not want to overtake him and when he finally wanted to do so, he was so close to Verstappen that he hit him.
A few laps earlier, the two title rivals had already collided in the first corner of the street circuit. Verstappen already received a time penalty (5 seconds) from the race management during the race, because he would have taken advantage of the short leave of the track. But it didn’t stop there for the Dutchman. 10 counts were added to his race time and he got 2 penalty points on his license. But the gap with number 3 Valtteri Bottas was more than enough to bear that sanction.
Check out how Verstappen and Hamilton collided below:
“In the decision to penalize Verstappen, it was decisive for the stewards that the driver suddenly braked considerably,” reads the verdict. “And although Hamilton could have overtaken him earlier, we understand that Verstappen is not the first The DRS line would have liked to pass, but Verstappen’s sudden braking action was labeled as erroneous by the stewards and therefore the collision is mainly blamed on him.”
The two protagonists had already had their say about the incident earlier in the evening. “He suddenly braked at a very high speed. He slowed down and moved from side to side. I don’t know what he was doing there. Very confusing,” said race winner Hamilton.
Verstappen had a very different view on the matter. ,,I braked and wanted to let him pass. He didn’t want to catch up, so we hit each other. I really don’t understand what happened there,” said the Dutchman. “What happened today is unbelievable. I’m just trying to race, but it seems that lately this sport is mainly about penalties. For me this is not Formula 1 .”
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