FIA explain Max Verstappen penalty decision delay

Turkish Grand Prix

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FIA explain Verstappen penalty decision delay

Verstappen was investigated after the race for crossing the white line on the pit exit

Sam Hall

Monday 16 November 2020 14:39

FIA race director Michael Masi has explained why the Turkish Grand Prix stewards made the seemingly odd decision to investigate Max Verstappen's potential pit lane exit breach after the race rather than during the 58 laps.

Post-race investigations are launched only when further evidence is required or when stewards deem it prudent to speak with the driver/s involved before deciding whether to hand out a sanction.

For matters that are, in theory, black and white such as pit lane speeding, ignoring blue flags or crossing the white line on pit exit, there is an expectation that decisions will be made during the race.

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Masi, however, explained that for the stewards at Istanbul Park - spearheaded by Derek Warwick - it was not a clear-cut case over whether to penalise the Red Bull driver.

“I don’t investigate the matters," said Masi. "Obviously, the stewards do and I know for a couple of them it was their view that they wanted further evidence before making a determination so on that basis they deferred them until after the race.

"The stewards took all of the available footage that existed, including a number of angles that weren’t broadcast and were available after the race, and determined that no further action was required and there was no breach.”

With the decision, Verstappen retained his sixth position, but this was only a small crumb of comfort to the Dutchman who in the early exchanges had looked to be in strong contention to pick up a second victory of the year until a spin behind Sergio Perez.

"The start was not great and I dropped back to fourth with the lack of grip on the dirty side of the grid," said Verstappen.

"I got back up to third and tried to follow Checo through the kink but washed out massively which put me onto the green on the exit kerb and I had a big spin.

"I tried to keep it out of the wall but flat-spotted my tyres and needed to pit. With fresh tyres, of course, you very quickly catch up with the guys in front but then you can’t pass.

"There’s just one line around here and already that line is very slippery and you just have to do the same line as the person ahead which is very frustrating.

"Also, the fact that the track wasn’t really drying meant we couldn’t switch to slicks so we had to stay on intermediates which just get destroyed pretty quickly.

"It was a complicated race with a mixture of just following the car ahead, having no grip and trying to survive! It's not been a great day and I guess it was just not meant to be.”

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