Mercedes believe Max Verstappen deliberately spoiled Lewis Hamilton’s final lap in qualifying yesterday but didn’t think it was worth seeking a penalty for the Red Bull driver.
However Kevin Magnussen did object to Verstappen holding him up during qualifying on Friday, despite admitting he stood to gain nothing if the Red Bull driver was penalised.Magnussen caught Verstappen at turn one during a flying lap and told his team on the radio he “was completely in the way”. However when the stewards investigated the incident they ruled the Red Bull driver did not hold up his rival.
The Haas driver said he was “happy that it was looked at” even though he would “gain nothing” if Verstappen was penalised. Magnussen qualified 19th for the grand prix while Verstappen took pole position.
“We’re fighting as hard as we can as well, so we want our stuff to be looked at as well and I was out of Q1. At the end of day, that lap where he impeded me was cancelled because of track limits, but I also had to make up like two-tenths that I lost in the first corner so you get put under more pressure.”
However Magnussen admitted he “would have kind of hated if he had been taken off pole for that.”
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The incident between Hamilton and Verstappen occured during the first round of qualifying for the sprint race. As Hamilton began his final lap he was caught by Verstappen, who was finishing a lap.
“There was still a few seconds on the clock so I wasn’t sure that my lap time was going to be safe so I wanted to continue but I ran out of time, space, with the two cars like that, which was a bit of a shame.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted they made a mistake by failing to warn Hamilton in time that Verstappen was approaching.
“The mistake happened on our side,” he said. “The communication between us and Lewis didn’t give him the right information to get out of Max’s way.”
He stressed the error had been unintentional. “No one wants to be in anybody’s way, because if you impede, you’re getting penalised. So that was not the aim.”
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However Wolff claimed Verstappen’s reaction, by staying on Hamilton’s inside until they reached turn one, was a retaliatory move to prevent the Mercedes driver starting his lap.
“On the other side, turn one was a revenge foul, it was just to make sure that his lap is ruined,” said Wolff. “So one was not intentional, the other one was intentional.”
He did not believe it was worth raising with the stewards, however. “But who cares? At the end, we looked at it, it wasn’t going to change our race,” said Wolff. “But I think they’re going to talk about it in the drivers’ briefing next week.”
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MCBosch
2nd July 2023, 7:49
Wolff cares enough about it to bring it up to the media. The statements from Verstappen are plausible even though I kind of agree that I don’t think max was going for another hot lap thus ruining Lewis lap.
MadMax (@madmax)
2nd July 2023, 7:57
It was in the media already. Typical Verstappen behaviour, nothing special about it.
Sikhumbuzo Khumalo
2nd July 2023, 9:36
I am sure you are aware that the journalists ask them questions and they answer. Those utterances or statements made get written about.
Ajaxn
2nd July 2023, 10:46
As with all things in the media, you must first assume the question was asked by the reporter.
He was asked the question and gave an honest appraisal.
X was asked for an opinion -‘ what do you think about ‘, and gave responce Y.
This is then butchered to create the headline, ‘X said what?’
Lee1
2nd July 2023, 20:38
It was not plausible. He was clearly on pole and simply pulled alongside hamilton to stop Hamilton getting a lap in. He did the same with Perez in the sprint race. He did not even try to take the corner and was focused on simply stopping Perez from taking the corner and in doing so completely ruined Landos race. He is a petulant idiot just like his disgusting father.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
2nd July 2023, 7:52
They believed it was an intentional foul but didn’t take it further as there was no remedy for them.
CheeseBucket
2nd July 2023, 12:56
Thanks for writing what was already obvious to all.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd July 2023, 8:05
I didn’t find what happened at T1 a revenge foul.
oweng (@oweng)
2nd July 2023, 8:13
Whether it was a revenge foul or not it was still a clear foul right?
It shouldn’t have mattered that Mercedes didn’t complain. Shocking decision not to review.
Mcbosch
2nd July 2023, 8:46
Just as shocking as not looking into Lewis impeding max?
Pete
2nd July 2023, 9:05
Depends who you support but overall, yes, equally so.
oweng (@oweng)
2nd July 2023, 9:12
The whole incident should be investigated. Don’t make this about Verstappen vs Hamilton, Red Bull vs Mercedes, Horner vs Wolff. But to answer your question, I believe that a driver deliberately blocking a driver on a fast lap by overtaking them then slowing and blocking them into a corner is much worse than a driver being a bit close to the car behind as they accelerate through the final turn.
Based on the information available so far, it seems that Verstappen investigated, found Hamilton guilty and gave out his punishment all in the space of the start finish straight. It should be absolutely unacceptable that any driver takes matters into their own hands on any incident. Allowing that to go unpunished sets a dangerous precedent.
lucifer (@lucifer)
2nd July 2023, 9:52
well said
Ajaxn
2nd July 2023, 10:48
Well its Verstappen, who apparently exists to set dangerous precedents.
Anthony Blears
2nd July 2023, 11:16
COTD right here
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
2nd July 2023, 11:28
@oweng exactly my thoughts and he repeated it with Perez on the first lap – I think Verstappen’s role in F1 should be that of a vigilante delivering justice on track for all drivers. E.g. Sainz impedes Gasly, Verstappen is notified and shows up and then drives Sainz off the track.
The unfortunate part is that he’s only a vigilante when it comes to himself but it does beg the question of whether there were any stewards at Red Bull and if those should be replaced for today’s race on account of utter incompetence.
SteveP
2nd July 2023, 12:03
It would be interesting to see how people think a petulant child with the body of an adult could be controlled.
Jimmy Cliff
2nd July 2023, 12:07
Lewis blocked Max on purpose – Lewis was well informed Max was coming and decided to start his lap anyway. With his 17 years experience Lewis knew perfectly well he would hinder/block Max in doing so.
Max is free to start another push lap and he didn’t back off till after turn 1 realizing his entry to turn 1 was compromised by Lewis.
Lewis own fault for creating the situation in the first place and needing that last lap as well to proceed SQ2. Horrible bad performance of Lewis failing to make SQ2 in top 3 car.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
2nd July 2023, 12:20
Ok, then maybe they can start giving Lewis penalties for all the times he’s in the way of someone? Mercedes is terrible at keeping it’s drivers informed. Every 2 weekends there is a moment Lewis and or George hinder people on track. If Mercedes wants it to be polices stricter that will mean a lot of penalties for their drivers.
Mcbosch
2nd July 2023, 15:53
1. Intend or accidental doesn’t make a difference as the outcome won’t be effected by it. Accidental in the way or on purpose: in the way is the way. F1 Made it clear more than once that the outcome doesn’t affect the punishment. .
2. Verstappen claimed he was going for another lap. Wether you believe him or not doesn’t matter. he was entitled to do one and with a faster track and hamilton in the last turn, he wasn’t sure his time was enough.
Our (shared) opinion that max did it on purpose doesn’t matter as the stewards didn’t deem it necessary to even investigate here.
My initial response was to your post that Verstappen should have been investigated but no words about Hamilton.
Itsmeagain (@)
2nd July 2023, 12:23
@oweng It’s interesting that you, and many here, are completely accepting the framing of Wolff. ‘We made a mistake, but Max did it on purpose’. Did it occur to you that there is also a possibility both did it on purpose?
oweng (@oweng)
2nd July 2023, 14:01
I haven’t commented on what Wolff said. The first line of my post was “the whole incident should be investigated”.
If Hamilton did something wrong he should be punished. Obviously.
peter
2nd July 2023, 8:56
Masterclass ‘how to change one’s mistake into somebody else’s revengefull foul’.
Of course it was Max’ little revenge, being a straight reaction on Lewis’/MB’s fail. Max vs Lewis isn’t the ‘casual’ rivalry, MB ‘failing’ to notice Max approaching on his flying lap is somehow genius, since they have an eye on Max all the time. Saying they missed him is just plain silly.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
oweng (@oweng)
2nd July 2023, 9:30
Can you explain why Verstappen (starting a slow lap) overtook Hamilton (starting a fast lap) on the pit straight then slowed in turn 1 on the racing line?
peter
2nd July 2023, 9:51
As my post already said, payback.
Nobody does a second consecutive fast lap these days, no further explanation needed.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 10:03
They’ve admitted they made a mistake in not giving Hamilton the information as he started his hot lap.
But the difference is that Max knew that Hamilton was starting his hot lap, and got in his way anyway. You could see the anger in his gesticulation. You could also see that he wasn’t at maximum acceleration, given the Mercedes came alongside him on the straight.
I absolutely don’t buy that he was going for another hot lap. AFAIK he didn’t do two hot laps in a row throughout any qualifying session, he didn’t need to, his battery would not be charged… If he really was planning to try for another hot lap, it was a good decision brought about by anger. However, I think it’s far more likely that Max made a different stupid decision based on anger: he was impeded, so he was going to make sure that the person who impeded him had his lap ruined.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 10:28
*stupid decision based on anger, not a good one
Ajaxn
2nd July 2023, 10:52
We’ve already seen him park his car on top of Hamilton’s helmet due to another angy decision based on anger.
Nothing was done then, nothing will be done now.
This angry driver is going to get someone killed, in the mother of all road rages.
Sebastian
2nd July 2023, 12:22
Yeah, but the reality is that he was almost killed by Lewis. Remember Silverstone ‘21?
Itsmeagain (@)
2nd July 2023, 13:50
In other words. You like it when drivers have the British politeness in words, and play the (dirty) trick on the circuit.
Jimmy Cliff
2nd July 2023, 12:11
Re watch the onboard footage and listen – Lewis was told Max was coming. Lewis and his engineer decided that there own start of their final push lap was more important than the end of Max fast lap.
Mercedes and Lewis knew Max was coming fast on his fast lap yet decided anyway to start their lap knowing full well they would hinder/block Max.
It is complete and utter nonsense that they didn’t know.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
2nd July 2023, 12:23
Fair point, it could very well be intentional. Actually not that I think of it . Maybe FIA should shout at drivers being slow on track when others are approaching on their fast lap. Take the responsibility away from the teams but that also means not acting on the information is an automatic 3 place grid drop. Genius solution!
Itsmeagain (@)
2nd July 2023, 12:25
Indeed, masterclass framing from the team that made identity framing of their competitors their main task
MadMax (@madmax)
2nd July 2023, 12:47
usual max bully style.
Electroball76
2nd July 2023, 10:00
I’d be more worried about the gun that Max is brandishing. The lad is out of control!
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
2nd July 2023, 10:07
Two drivers, two ruined laps, seems fair to me.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 10:30
One accidental because of a mistake, one highly likely to be on purpose. Doesn’t seem fair to me.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
2nd July 2023, 12:41
Is it accidental? Or just poor management from. the team? Or worse: they choose not to inform Lewis and its intentional looking for ways to hinder Max maybe hoping for a penalty.
It would be good if not informing drivers would lead to automatic fines and they made them exponential.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 12:53
I wouldn’t be against an automatic penalty in cases like this, though there will always be great areas.
That doesn’t come close to a driver intentionally getting in the way of someone because they are angry, which is clearly what Verstappen did.
Personally, I think both should have been investigated, and it’s likely both should have been penalised. However, I also think it’s very clear that Verstappen’s was a much more serious incident, and should have been penalised more heavily.
oweng (@oweng)
2nd July 2023, 10:36
Verstappen may have been impeded – if he was slowed more than any tow benefit for example. But I’m pretty sure his lap was fastest. So not that hampered.
Also it’s up to the stewards to impose penalties, not the drivers. Are you in favour of revenge acts by drivers in general as long as they both end up suffering equally?
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
2nd July 2023, 11:11
Yeah I don’t mind a little tit for tat.
oweng (@oweng)
2nd July 2023, 11:27
Why bother with stewards then? Just let the drivers sort it out between themselves.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
2nd July 2023, 11:36
Sure, like they did here so no after the fact investigations and other nonsense had to occur. Thanks for getting the point.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 13:00
Seriously, though, why bother with officials at all if you’re just going to let the drivers take matters into their own hands. “He pushed me off there, so I’ll push him off here”, “he crashed into me last race, so I’ll crash into him this race”.
And what if one driver thinks he’s been wronged, when in fact he hasn’t? You hear all the time drivers complaining that someone does something wrong, when in fact it was pretty fine.
And what if someone did something wrong, so the other driver retaliates, but the originally wrong driver doesn’t believe they did anything wrong and retaliates for the retaliation?
Penalties should be left to the officials. Vigilantism should be punished severely.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 12:14
That’s not the way sports work. If one player fouls another in, say, football, it’s up to the referee to have our a punishment. It’s not for the other to get up and kick the player who fouled him.
MichaelN
2nd July 2023, 11:00
Until one of them drives for Ferrari, they can go right on impeding each other, bumping into each other, and whatever else these two get up to. After all, it seems it’s only really worth investigating if the stewards get to penalize a Ferrari.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
2nd July 2023, 12:26
MichaelN,
The Ferrari F1 team since the death of Marchionne are a joke from a political standpoint ! Marchionne was known for evoking anger and fear in the FIA and Liberty, respectively. Let’s not forget that he was the one who put out to grass Jean Todt when he seemed untouchable in Ferrari.
Upon his return as president of Ferrari in late 2014, Marchionne wasted no time to use the veto in the face of Jean Todt’s ridiculous proposal in 2015 of selling power units at a lower price than their cost, which would have resulted in losses for the manufacturers. Marchionne’s bold style was evident as he stood against the delirious power-driven Jean Todt who was all over the place furious lobbying Ecclestone then Liberty to revoke Ferrari veto power.
As for Liberty, Marchionne has been known in the United States as the man who used to move the stock price with a single statement or the traders’ whisperer. He gained that status after the miracle he’s done at both FIAT and Chrysler and pulled both groups from inevitable bankruptcies and turned them into profitability capitalizing on the promises he’s made.
Liberty was fully aware of the potential consequences of engaging in a conflict with Marchionne, and they were keen to avoid it. It is important to note that Marchionne openly voiced his criticisms of Ross Brawn and Liberty, expressing his dissatisfaction with the direction they were steering the sport towards. In 2018, he even publicly threatened to withdraw Ferrari from Formula 1 by 2020 if Liberty proceeded with their plans to standardize the cars.
Following the passing of Marchionne, Louis Camilieri, with his background in the tobacco industry, assumed control of Ferrari. Despite having the largest fanbase, veto power, a strong board of directors, and a well-connected President like Jean Elkann, Ferrari succumbed to the pressure from both Liberty and the FIA. This can be attributed to the decision of entrusting political matters to a clown like Binotto, who proved incapable of effectively managing his drivers, starting with Leclerc and Vettel, and later when Sainz joined the team.
At one point, Binotto was bragging about Ferrari’s generosity and willingness to make concessions, particularly regarding the budget cap to ensure the sport’s sustainability. Ferrari also accepted the removal of the MGU-H and the standardization and freezing of development for a significant part of the ICE under the 2026 rules. It was evident to me at the time that Ferrari was essentially digging its own grave, and the current results speak for themselves. We now have a Formula where the differentiating factors are primarily the chassis and aerodynamics, which feels like a sense of déjà vu.
It’s clear for me that Mercedes and RBR thanks to both Toto and Horner who know very well how to play the game get first class treatment from F1. What Verstappen did to Hamilton yesterday was not in the realms of impeding, for me it was in the realms of unsportsmanlike behaviour and still get away with it despite the fact that in the same session Leclerc was penalised for doing much less.
If Ferrari wants to be treated like both RBR and Mercedes, they better hire someone like Horner and Toto and upgrade their entire communication department. Marchionne understood this at the time when he took over and immediately changed tactics and went full attack mode. Rather than passively waiting for special treatment, it is crucial for Ferrari to proactively assert themselves and force both F1 and the FIA to respect them.
MichaelN
2nd July 2023, 14:40
@tifoso1989 Absolutely, and a good summary for sure. The decision by Camilieri and Elkann to cast their lot in with Binotto when he essentially rebelled against Arrivabene has proven to be a costly one, culminating in the worst result since the early 1980s with 6th in 2020.
Ferrari is basically a punching bag at this point, so weak are they politically. Not only evident with all the impeding penalties for Ferrari (whilst others can basically do it on purpose and still get away with it), but perhaps most obviously illustrated by the handling of the Australian restart.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
2nd July 2023, 11:12
I do have to say that Max seems to the official steward of F1 delivering penalties for any incident noted or not noted from the FIA. He did that to Lewis and Checo. Normally that’s a red card in other sports which regard the second retaliatory penalty as more egregious than the first one.
Shouldn’t Max be listed as a steward in every F1 race? Has the FIA considered officially adding his name where it belongs? :-)
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 12:15
Agreed.
PlosslF1
2nd July 2023, 11:31
You would of thought that with 2 WDC in the bag and this years a foregone conclusion that Max might of matured as a driver…apparently not.
SteveP
2nd July 2023, 12:07
I think you’re expecting a lot of change from someone who has been trained from birth to behave that way.
CheeseBucket
2nd July 2023, 13:03
I disagree. 1 WDC.
I count count WDCs won through cheating.
Itsmeagain (@)
2nd July 2023, 14:20
Okay,…. In that case Lewis is a one WDC, or did you forget the illegal tyretest of MB that made the basis for their future dominance. https://www.racefans.net/2013/06/04/what-could-mercedes-have-learned-from-their-secret-tyre-test/
It’s always interesting that many fans here like to stay in the past when it suits their personal opinion and forget the many facts that make the Mercedes dominance questionable.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
2nd July 2023, 18:09
And that’s the view from under your bridge I guess.
MichaelN
2nd July 2023, 14:46
The problem with that is that the man who has shaped Max’ life and career is magnitudes worse, so all things considered Max is doing quite well. Should still have been investigated, and probably penalized, for these shenanigans though.
Henrik Hvittskjegg
2nd July 2023, 11:39
Yeah, they are all saints.
Oh wait Mercedes filed with the stewards after all…
osnola
2nd July 2023, 12:22
So we create a storm and collect the usual leafs..
Not one remark here is a surprise.
If you can bash Verstappen do not miss the opportunity. It’s especially difficult this year because he hardly makes mistakes..
elchinero (@elchinero)
2nd July 2023, 12:26
Max did not need to “impead” Lewie … Ham is NOT worthy of any further consideration, any longer.
Itsmeagain (@)
2nd July 2023, 14:06
It shows how successful Tot’s framing always is. Not one word of doubt about the ‘mistake’ of MB, it’s all about The behavior of max. What was Lewis doing there, knowing Max wax approaching? What tells me why he didn’t that on purpose? Oh… Toto told it,… just like the story about illegal floor (which wasn’t), suggesting Tsunoda deliberately stopped at zandvoort etc etc. This man is a walking lying machine….
Ruben
2nd July 2023, 13:14
We don’t seek a penalty, we smear you in the media instead.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
2nd July 2023, 13:33
Exactly, the cowards way.