FIA release judgement after Verstappen summoned to STEWARDS for impeding

Max Verstappen during press conference in Spain — Photo: © LAT Images

Austrian Grand Prix

FIA release judgement after Verstappen summoned to STEWARDS for impeding

Verstappen qualified on pole position but was called to answer for an incident in Q1

Chris Deeley

Saturday 1 July 2023 07:57 Updated: 19:51

Max Verstappen has avoided punishment for an alleged impeding incident in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was called up in front of the stewards on Friday evening to investigate an accusation that he impeded a flying lap by Kevin Magnussen in the first part of qualifying.

Magnussen was eliminated in that phase, partly because the flying lap in question ended up being deleted for a track limits violation – although the official decision made it clear that the lap being deleted (and therefore the incident having no bearing on the result) didn't factor into their ruling.

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Verstappen will start from pole position for Sunday's feature race in Styria, having beaten out the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. respectively into second and third place.

FIA Ruling

"The driver of Car 1 [Verstappen] stated that he saw a car approaching after he crossed the line at the end of his push lap and moved to the left of the track after the exit of Turn 1," the FIA statement read.

"The driver of Car 20 stated that he had to move to the right to avoid Car 1 and hence lost time on his fast lap.

"The Stewards determined from the video (and audio) evidence that Car 20 had clipped the kerb in Turn 1 and that this subsequently caused a slight change in acceleration which in turn resulted in a slightly slower time on the next mini sectors.

"The Stewards further determined that Car 20 did not have to take significant evasive action."