Breaking news
Formula 1 Austrian GP
Vettel/Verstappen incident comparision "apples and oranges" - FIA
Judging Max Verstappen’s Austrian Grand Prix-winning move on Charles Leclerc alongside recent controversial Formula 1 penalties like Sebastian Vettel’s in Canada has been dismissed as comparing “apples and oranges”.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Jul 1, 2019, 2:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Verstappen escaped punishment after he and Leclerc made wheel-to-wheel contact that pushed Leclerc off-track while fighting for the win in Austria, as the stewards believed both drivers had a role to play in the incident.
The clash has been compared to controversial five-second penalties applied at the previous two races in Canada, where Sebastian Vettel lost victory, and France, where Daniel Ricciardo lost a points finish.
Those incidents sparked major debate over what should and should not be allowed in F1 and drew major criticism for the championship as well.
After the decision not to punish Verstappen, Ferrari F1 team boss Mattia Binotto said “clear rules” exist to prevent drivers like Leclerc being forced off the road and that these were “exactly the same rules which have been applied in past races”.
However, when asked by Motorsport.com to explain the difference, FIA F1 race director Michael Masi said comparing such incidents was “effectively trying to compare apples and oranges”.
Read Also:
- FIA explains why Verstappen decision took so long
- Leclerc: Verstappen pass "not the way you overtake"
- Binotto: Ferrari won't appeal "wrong" Verstappen verdict
In the cases of Vettel and Ricciardo, penalties were applied because they were judged to have forced their rival off-track after going off the track themseves.
Vettel went off while leading in Montreal and bounced across the grass, then was deemed to have rejoined unsafely and forced Lewis Hamilton wide as the Mercedes driver tried to pass him.
In France, Ricciardo attempted to make a pass on Lando Norris but ran deep into the chicane, went off-track with all four wheels but still tried to keep the inside line for the second part of the corner, which forced Norris to go off-track on the outside.
Unlike Vettel, Verstappen was making a legitimate overtaking attempt when his incident occurred, and unlike Ricciardo, Verstappen remained in control of the car at all times and did not leave the circuit.
“Each and every incident needs to be considered on its own merit, different corners, different profiles, different circumstances,” said Masi. “Trying to compare the three of them, they are three very different incidents.
“In the stewards’ view it was a racing incident. It was just good, hard racing from the perspective they saw.”
Verstappen had tried to pass Leclerc on the previous lap at the same place, the Turn 3 right-hander at the top of the hill, but Leclerc held on around the outside.
When asked by Motorsport.com to talk through the incident, Masi suggested that the stewards felt Verstappen had “learned what had happened a lap earlier” and the nature of the move was fundamentally different second time around.
“He went into the corner, braked later, Charles obviously saw him coming and stayed out wide,” said Masi.
“And Max, in braking a lot later, ‘late-apexed’ and at all times was pretty much on full lock and tried to power out. The same thing that happened the lap previously didn’t occur again.”
In making their decision, the panel of four stewards – which included Le Mans 24 Hours legend Tom Kristensen – looked at previous incidents and past precedent.
This included the clash between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Austria three years ago, at the same corner as Verstappen and Leclerc collided.
On that occasion, Rosberg – on the inside, like Verstappen – was punished, but again the incident was different because Rosberg was trying to defend the position not make an overtake.
“The big difference between the footage I’ve seen of the two is that Nico looked across on that occasion,” added Masi. “Whereas Max is very much focusing on the corner and getting out of it as quickly as possible.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article FIA explains why Verstappen decision took so long
Next article Honda's Tanabe explains why he was late to Austria podium
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Max Verstappen
Red Bull reveals when 'silly' problems affecting Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar can be fixed
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Red Bull reveals when 'silly' problems affecting Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar can be fixed
Max Verstappen pinpoints two recurring Red Bull problems: "We should use sign language!"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Max Verstappen pinpoints two recurring Red Bull problems: "We should use sign language!"
More from
Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Max Verstappen reacts to COTA boss: "He can drive my car, after five laps he won't be able to walk"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Max Verstappen reacts to COTA boss: "He can drive my car, after five laps he won't be able to walk"
Latest news
Ducati: “Marc Marquez has asked for guarantees to go to Qatar, while others stay silent”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
5 min
Ducati: “Marc Marquez has asked for guarantees to go to Qatar, while others stay silent”
Red Bull reveals when 'silly' problems affecting Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar can be fixed
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Red Bull reveals when 'silly' problems affecting Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar can be fixed
Manthey acknowledges IMSA to be "tougher than expected" despite two wins
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 12 h
Manthey acknowledges IMSA to be "tougher than expected" despite two wins
How a philosophy shift brought BMW to new heights in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 12 h
How a philosophy shift brought BMW to new heights in 2026
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe