The world champion was the protagonist of an aggressive maneuver exiting the pit lane, overtaking Russell and Hamilton. The Dutchman was furious: “They were going too slowly, they should have let me pass.” And the race direction changes the regulations
Abu Dhabi seems destined to always spark controversy among Max Verstappen and the Mercedes. In 2021 the pilot Red Bull he won the first of his three titles in contested fashion. This year, during the second free practice, the Dutchman performed a double overtaking George Russell And Lewis Hamilton exiting the pit lane, right at the entrance to the small tunnel that brings the cars back to the track. A very decisive maneuver, which, although legitimate, created quite a bit of friction between the two teams, pushing the race direction to take action.
the fact
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The second free practice became very important due to the time reduced by the red flags for the accidents of Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg. Hence Verstappen’s haste, eager to lap as much as possible. Thus, at the end, while returning to the track, Max found himself lined up behind the Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton who were slowly proceeding out of the pit lane. The Dutchman first joined George and then Lewis from the outside, overtaking them with quite a few risks, after having grazed the wall. An overtaking that is in some ways unprecedented and certainly discussed.
attached
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Verstappen, visibly nervous, openly criticized the Mercedes drivers for proceeding too slowly: “The others should have moved, they were slow and I had to get onto the track. Furthermore, they tried to push me against the wall. That’s not good.” The Race Direction has taken action with an updated version of the regulations. Race director Niels Wittich said: “Drivers are not allowed to drive in a manner that is not necessarily slow, including stopping a car in the fast pit lane. They are also prohibited from overtaking when exiting the pit lane unless a car slows down. for an obvious problem.”
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