Max Verstappen has been summoned to the stewards over the incident that saw Lewis Hamilton drive into the back of him at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen and Hamilton’s collision was one of the major flashpoints of a wildly controversial race.
The two title rivals were fighting for the lead of the race when Verstappen forced Hamilton wide at Turn 1 in a similar move to his controversial defence at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen seemed to keep the lead by leaving the circuit and was soon told by Red Bull to give the position to Hamilton.
Hamilton did not appear to be given the message Verstappen was doing so, driving into the back of the Red Bull driver. Verstappen had dropped five gears and slowed right down. Hamilton also initially slowed, and then tried to pass to the left, clipping Verstappen’s car.
Hamilton was livid, labelling Verstappen “dangerous” and claiming the Dutch driver had “brake tested” him — insinuating he had intentionally slammed on the brakes in order to cause a collision.
Verstappen was handed a five-second penalty for the running wide in the initial defensive move.
Several laps later, Verstappen appeared to let Hamilton by as his tyres faded, finishing a distant second to his title rival.
After the race, Verstappen was told he had been voted driver of the day over the radio, saying in reply: “Luckily the fans have a clear mind about racing.”
Speaking about his penalty, he added: “To me this is not Formula One”.
He later said during his post-race interview: “I slowed down. I wanted to let him by.
“I was on the right but he didn’t want to overtake and then we touched. So I don’t understand what happened there.”
The stewards have summoned Verstappen over Article 2 (d) Chapter IV Appendix L of the FIA International Sporting Code, incident in turn 27 at 22.19.
The Article in question relates to: “Causing a collision, repetition of serious mistakes or the appearance of a lack of control over the car (such as leaving the track) will be reported to the Stewards and may entail the imposition of penalties up to and including disqualification.”
Source: www.espn.com