Image by Zak Mauger/LAT
Verstappen victory confirmed after FIA investigation
Max Verstappen’s victory in the Austrian Grand Prix has been confirmed after the stewards opted against penalizing him for his race-winning overtake on Charles Leclerc.
Having fought through the field to challenge for the win in the closing laps, Verstappen then got down the inside of Leclerc on Lap 68 and tried to park the car on the apex. Leclerc accelerated around the outside and Verstappen left room as the Ferrari came back at him, with Leclerc taking the lead on the run to Turn 4.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1145359843806416896
On the next lap, Verstappen braked deeper into Turn 3 after again being able to get down the inside, and Leclerc had no space as he turned in, with the pair touching wheels and the Ferrari running wide.
The two drivers were summoned to the stewards and spent more than 30 minutes discussing the incident, with a decision following over an hour later -- and more than three hours after the race finished -- stating that no further action would be taken.
https://twitter.com/fia/status/1145389699743277058
“Car 33 sought to overtake car 16 at Turn 3 on Lap 69 by out-braking car 16,” the stewards’ decision read. “When doing so, car 33 was alongside car 16 on the entry of the corner and was in full control of the car while attempting the overtaking move on the inside of car 16.
“However, both car 33 and car 16 proceeded to negotiate the corner alongside each other but there was clearly insufficient space for both cars to do so. Shortly after the late apex, while exiting the corner, there was contact between the two cars. In the totality of the circumstances, we did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. We consider that this is a racing incident.”
As a result, Verstappen wins his first race of the season and gives Honda its first victory since returning to Formula 1 in 2015. (Pictured above: Honda F1 Technical Director Toyoharu Tanabe celebrates with Verstappen on the podium.)
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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