Max Verstappen was given a five-second time penalty for his collision with Lewis Hamilton during the Brazilian Grand Prix. Did the stewards make the correct decision?
Incident
The pair collided after the restart on lap seven of the race. Hamilton, running second, moved to the inside to defend his position from Verstappen as they entered the Senna ‘S’. Verstappen ran deep into the corner, moving past Hamilton’s car on the outside.
As they rounded the left-hander, Hamilton moved backed ahead of Verstappen. The Red Bull driver attempted to re-pass the Mercedes on the inside of turn two, where they made contact.
Hamilton was able to continue but Verstappen sustained front wing damage and had to pit for repairs.
How it happened
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What they said
In the cars
Following the collision Verstappen told his race engineer: “He left me no space.” Later, when he was told he had been given a penalty for the collision, Verstappen said: “Where did they expect me to go? He just closed the door on me.”
As Hamilton returned to turn one on the lap after the collision, he said: “That was not a racing incident.”
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After the crash
The drivers are yet to speak to media about on the incident.
The incident in pictures
The official verdict
The stewards gave Verstappen a five-second time penalty for the collision. The full verdict is yet to be published.
Revised guidelines regarding incidents were issued to drivers at the start of the 2022 season. The guidelines for overtaking on the outside of a corner state:
“In order for a car being overtaken to be required to give sufficient room to an overtaking car, the overtaking car needs to have a significant portion of the car alongside the car being overtaken and the overtaking manoeuvre must be done in a safe…
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