Max Verstappen has been given a time penalty for his collision with Lewis Hamilton in F1 Saudi Arabian GP for his braking.
The FIA stewards have handed a 10s time penalty to Red Bull’s Verstappen for erratic braking when trying to give the place back to Mercedes’ Hamilton in F1 Saudi Arabian GP towards the end of the lap in the right-hander.
The summon took place in the presence of both the drivers and this is the second time penalty for Verstappen in the race after his initial 5s penalty. He also has two penalty points on his license to go with one from the previous penalty, making it seven points currently.
Explaining the decision, the FIA stewards determined the Verstappen was predominantly at fault. He was told at Turn 21 to give back the place but in a strategic manner and it was apparent that no one wanted to take the lead due to the DRS detection point.
While both played the unaware game, the prime reason for the decision was a sudden braking from Verstappen, which was recorded as 69 bar resulting in 2.4g deceleration. This made it obvious time penalty but it doesn’t change the result with the Dutchman still P2.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 33 (Max Verstappen), the driver of car 44
(Lewis Hamilton) and team representative, reviewed the video and telemetry
evidence and determined that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly at fault,” started the statement. “At turn 21 the driver of car 33 was given the instruction to give back a position to car 44 and was told by the team to do so “strategically”. Car 33 slowed significantly at turn 26.
“However, it was obvious that neither driver wanted to take the lead prior to DRS detection line 3. The driver of Car 33 stated that he was wondering why Car 44 had not overtaken and the driver of Car 44 stated that, not having been aware at that stage that Car 33 was giving the position back, was unaware of the reason Car 33 was slowing. In deciding to penalise the driver of Car 33, the key point for the Stewards was that the driver of Car 33 then braked suddenly (69 bar) and significantly, resulting in 2.4g deceleration.
“Whilst accepting that the driver of Car 44 could have overtaken Car 33 when that car first slowed, we understand why he (and the driver of Car 33) did not wish to be the first to cross the DRS. However, the sudden braking by the driver of Car 33 was determined by the Stewards to be erratic and hence the predominant cause of the collision and hence the standard penalty of 10 seconds for this type of incident, is imposed.
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.”
Here’s how F1 Saudi Arabian GP panned out
