Why was Verstappen penalized when he crashed into Hamilton in Brazil?
The race stewards found Max Verstappen guilty during the collision with Lewis Hamilton in Brazil, when the safety car was restarted. If fans are astonished, the grounds are based on last year's events, when Verstappen was already involved.
At the restart when the safety car pulled into the pits, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen made contact at turn 2 of the Interlagos circuit. The two drivers never give each other any gifts, and Hamilton didn’t leave any space to prevent giving an advantage to Max Verstappen, who was trying to take the inside line.
The commissioners have decided to penalize Verstappen with a 5-second penalty and a deduction of two points from his super license. While this sanction may seem surprising in relation to the 2022 rules, which state that the driver on the inside should be given space, the penalty is reminiscent of a previous one at the same location in 2018.
The commissioners reviewed videos from different angles and concluded that Verstappen attempted to overtake Hamilton by braking very late in turn 1. He failed to make the turn and his excess speed compromised his entry into turn 2, resulting in contact with Lewis Hamilton. The commissioners acknowledge that Lewis Hamilton could have given more room, but they determined that Max Verstappen was primarily responsible.
“Let them race”, promoted by the organizers since the beginning of the season, has allowed the implementation of a new rule stating that if a car had a significant portion alongside its competitor, it should be given enough room.
This recommendation was not taken into consideration here by the commissioners, who believe that Max Verstappen was arriving with much more speed than he should have to follow a trajectory without any collision.
Max Verstappen complained about this penalty during the race. However, he experienced a similar scenario in 2018 when Esteban Ocon, a lap behind, tried to unlap himself by being faster than Verstappen.
The two men then clashed, causing Verstappen to lose a lot of time.
The FIA had then decided to punish Ocon, inside Verstappen, who was also arriving with too much speed. Max Verstappen, very upset after the race, had found the sanction to be logical.
Esteban Ocon on the inside of Verstappen in 2018:
Lap 44, Max is leading the race, then this… #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 (Sound 🔊) pic.twitter.com/FhMgkehVtG
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 11, 2018
Max Verstappen overtakes Hamilton in 2022.
Drama for Lewis and Max in Brazil 😱#BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/kxWTURTv8A
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 13, 2022
