The most discussed episode of the whole Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the contact between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which took place during the 37th lap. The Dutchman of Red Bull, at the beginning of the lap in question, had defended himself from the Englishman’s attack at the first corner, ending up on the escape route and returning to the track again in first position. Subsequently, even before the Race Direction imposed a 5 second penalty a Mad Max for having taken advantage of the maneuver, the number 33 then decreased his speed with the intention of giving his leadership to Hamilton, doing it close to the last corner.
In this circumstance, however, the defending champion ended up dab the rival’s car, which slowed down on the trajectory only to then slightly discard towards the inside, thus leaving no room for the Mercedes standard bearer to overtake. Despite the collision, The Hammer he still managed to continue the race, going to win right in front of the Dutchman. Subsequently, Verstappen was penalized by another 10 seconds for the maneuver carried out – in addition to 2 points removed from the Super license – with a penalty that was irrelevant for the final position. The incident, however, did nothing but create an infinity of controversy about the race conduct of the 24-year-old from Red Bull, also involving the opinion of some former drivers; among these, one of the most interesting and detailed evaluations came from Karun Chandhok, present in Formula 1 in 2010 and 2011 with Hispania Racing and Lotus. The Indian, through his Twitter profile, has in fact published the images of the accident taken from camera-car by Verstappen just before the impact.
Watching this clip, got to say the stewards were right to penalise Max.
It’s quite clear he deviates (wrongly) from the racing line to the middle of the track & braked unexpectedly.
I know the penalty doesn’t change his P2 yesterday but it sets a precedent for future races pic.twitter.com/94xn5wnfFw
– Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) December 6, 2021
As described by the former driver, the Dutchman’s move can be seen more clearly: “Looking at these images, I must say that the stewards were right to penalize Max – reads the tweet – it is quite evident how he deviates (erroneously) from the race line in the middle of the track, braking unexpectedly. I understand that the penalty does not affect his second position obtained yesterday, but this creates a precedent for the next races ”.
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