Breaking news
Formula 1
Verstappen questions logic of in-race F1 penalties
Max Verstappen has questioned the logic of penalties being applied during a Formula 1 race and spoiling on-track battles, in the aftermath of Sebastian Vettel's controversial Canadian Grand Prix penalty.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Jun 20, 2019, 1:29 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
F1's rules have been in the spotlight since Vettel controversially lost victory at the previous race in Montreal because of a time penalty he received for rejoining unsafely and forcing Lewis Hamilton off the track.
Verstappen, who believes it was wrong for the four-time world champion to be punished, fought for victory in the Monaco GP but then lost his second place finish because of his own five-second time penalty.
"In general if you're going to award a penalty maybe don't do it in the race," said Verstappen. "It ruins the whole excitement of Lewis catching Seb and fighting for the win.
"When you look back at it, the first mistake that happened was Seb went off the track but then he rejoined, he didn't do anything. He was not blocking Lewis on purpose. Why they gave him the penalty was wrong."
Verstappen believes the strong chance of a penalty will influence a driver's actions in battle.
He also reckons F1's rules should change so that the line is drawn if "you hit each other off the track", because "a bit of wheel-banging won't hurt".
"He [Vettel] did everything he could to do it in a safe way," said Verstappen. "You go off in the lead, you know Lewis is behind by only a second and a half, so you stay on throttle and you're managing [the car].
"Lewis saw him go off. When he goes through the left he knows Seb is going to come back on and of course he's going to drift wide, and he had to back off.
"If I had been Lewis I would have been on the radio as well saying he blocked me. You know it's in the rules and there's a possible penalty."
Read Also:
- Ferrari summoned to hearing over Vettel penalty review
- F1 can't just move on from Vettel penalty - Abiteboul
- Villeneuve: Ricciardo, not Vettel, deserved penalty in Canada
Verstappen spent a day observing FIA officials during the Marrakesh Formula E race in January, as part of a punishment handed to him last year.
He thinks stewards do not want to give certain penalties during Formula 1 races but are obliged to do so because of how the rulebook is worded.
"I think they do realise what's happening but sometimes they can't give another penalty because it's written in the rulebook exactly like that, that they have to give this penalty,".
"Sometimes they don't want to, but they have to. I read a few comments that some stewards they got bad language messages on Twitter and stuff which is not fair.
"They are trying to do their job in the best possible way and it's not fair to say they did a bad job. I think it's good to look at the rulebook and what we can change/take out."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Promoted: What to expect from the French Grand Prix
Next article Magnussen: Steiner did well to "shut me up" in Canada
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jan 3, 2020
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jan 3, 2020
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jan 3, 2020
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Max Verstappen
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 15 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
More from
Red Bull Racing
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
Formula 1 7 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Latest news
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
3 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 7 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe