Verstappen in trouble for calling steward 'idiot'
Oct.24 - Max Verstappen could be in trouble for insulting an FIA steward.
A controversy erupted when the Dutchman was penalised for his exciting last-lap pass on Kimi Raikkonen for the Austin podium.
The Red Bull driver's father Jos was particularly furious, declaring on Twitter that the FIA should stand for 'Ferrari International Assistance'.
But Max himself also let his fury rip.
"I feel robbed," Sport Bild quotes him as saying.
Verstappen, 20, accused one steward in particular - believed to be Australian Garry Connelly - of always penalising him for overtakes.
"He's an idiot who always decides against me," he said.
"I hope the fans don't like the decision and don't come back next year," Verstappen said before leaving Austin.
Now, British and German media sources report that the FIA could look into whether Verstappen's criticism of the steward brings the sport into disrepute.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner doesn't think so.
"If Lewis Hamilton is allowed to criticise the US president, then a frustrated driver is allowed to express his opinion," he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.
As for Verstappen's actual overtake, expert opinions are mixed. Some say it was clearly illegal, others think officialdom should butt out, and many argue that tracks should be modified so that breaching 'track limits' is not possible.
And some pundits say the real problem is that only certain breaches of 'track limits' are penalised.
F1 race director Charlie Whiting defended the Austin stewards' decision.
"In all other cases where the drivers left the circuit, they went a longer distance. Max on the other hand cut the corner with all four wheels," he said.
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Stupid!stupid! Come on you cant take it away from him he was driver of the day! Leave the poor Boy alone! He will come back with avengence and he Will be a champion one day
I think it is that it was a FINN as a specialist judge MIKA SALO that was the problem.
A Finn as a Judge is not a good idea as there allways at least 2 Finns alltime at F1 and even that is sick!
And of course the Finn even fined Ericsson as Finns not like Swedes so absolut funny.........
All four wheels were off the track AND he gained an advantage. Its pretty clear cut. There have been numerous examples before. The drivers were either required to give the position back or they were given a time penalty. Lewis vs Kimi at Spa 2008 (at the "bus stop" chicane) immediately comes to mind. Lewis was given a timed penalty even though he gave back the position. The reason was that he overtook Kimi again before the next corner (La Source) which was in violation of the rules at the time. Why then should this instance be overlooked because the guilty party is an exciting driver and the move was considered by many as audacious?
The consistency of the stewards has been questioned in certain quarters. However that has little to do with the driver's culpability. If one is penalised for commiting an offence for which there are clearly defined sanctions, that individual has no case complaing about others who for one reason or the other, avoided punishment for a seemingly similar offence.
As an ExFIA steward and racer I agree with Jazzi. The point is "gain an advantage" which he did. It does not take away the brilliant drive but his emotions and mouth did after the race. He is young and a charger. He needs to take a control lesson from his team partner.
If you realy are what you say, and i have nou reason to doubd, then the following: in the spirit of the race.....take the cutting corner aspect for a moment out of youre mind and instead take a real close look at the full last rond in slow motion. Kimi was a couples of times completey out of the racetrack, desperately trying to defend himself from the charging max verstappen right behind him....
Thats also gaining an advantage outside of track.... and worthy of a penalty in my opinion. The stewards never mention this and only focus on the last corner...
In the spirit of the race, they just should have let them both Race and fight hard till the finnish line like they used to do in the old days, giving exiting spectacular races. I have been watching and following f1 races for about 45 years now, but every time race by race it shows more to me, that f1 is only a shade of itself as what it former was....by the looks and sound of it, its not a race anymore but only a sad show pretending to be a race. This is probably also the reason the old gard of f1 drivers take a stand and are in the verstappen camp with their opinions. I truly feel sad that the younger generation misses what i saw in the past and what made f1 great.