At least in this respect, the world champion was lucky on Saturday: After qualifying for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, three investigations were initiated against Max Verstappen. However, the Dutchman did not receive a grid penalty in all three cases.
The first investigation was into Verstappen, who was surprisingly eliminated in Q2 after finishing eleventh in qualifying on Saturday, directly in Q1 when he stood at the pit exit for a long time in a situation and several drivers had to wait behind him.
He himself says about the scene in question: “We do it like this when the pit light turns green. The first person usually drives off and the second one always waits a while. Then you drive off and the one behind waits again for a small gap to have.”
“And when I started rolling, I saw that there were a lot of cars close together. I already knew what was going to happen in the last chicane. So I just stopped and waited a bit so that there was less drama,” Verstappen explains his approach .
“Some people behind me then complained, but I just thought it would be a safer option instead of everyone being together,” he emphasizes, and Christian Horner explains to “Sky” that they “already have 100 examples from other drivers seen driving slowly out of the pit lane.”
Case 1: No “obvious advantage” for Verstappen
“I don’t think that’s a problem,” said the team boss. And the race stewards actually let Verstappen off with a warning. The reasoning states that the Red Bull driver waited at the pit exit for “approximately 14 seconds” during the scene.
The stewards note: “While the driver did not gain any obvious advantage by waiting so long at the pit exit, the potential to cause disruption to other drivers warrants a penalty.”
Verstappen violated Article 37.5 of the sporting regulations, which states that you must not unnecessarily stand in the way of other drivers. A warning is “appropriate” here, according to the reasons for the judgment.
It also says: “It is pointed out that the following vehicle [Verstappen] could have overtaken, but it is preferable that the vehicles leave the pit exit in an orderly manner.”
Case 2: Sargeant relieves Verstappen
Just three minutes after the incident, Verstappen faced the second investigation for allegedly standing in Logan Sargeant’s way between turns 17 and 18. “There was so much going on with Sargeant, half the field was there,” said Horner.
The race stewards saw it very similarly and did not impose any punishment at all. The reasoning for the judgment states: “[Verstappen] stated that during the preparation laps he was surrounded by many other vehicles, some overtaking him on the left and others on the right.”
Therefore, the world champion considered it “the safest option” to simply stay on the ideal line. “He stated that he felt that any movement to the left or right could have caused a collision with one of the cars around him. The stewards accept these statements,” it said.
In addition, Sargeant himself stated at the hearing that in his opinion Verstappen was not to blame for the incident and that he had enough space to overtake. “We therefore note that [Verstappen Sargeant] did not unnecessarily hinder,” it says.
Case 3: Previous decisions prevent harsher punishment
The third and final controversial scene came in Q2 when Verstappen got in the way of Yuki Tsunoda between turns 3 and 4. The Dutchman even admits that the situation was “not good”. “I didn’t see him,” he admits, explaining: “I got [am Funk] no announcement until he was basically behind me.”
“With Tsunoda, I think there was enough space for him inside,” says Horner. The race stewards saw things a little differently, but here too Verstappen ultimately got away with a warning. Red Bull was also fined 5,000 euros.
The justification states that Verstappen only made room for Tsunoda “very late”. “The team acknowledged that communication was poor and that they did not inform their driver until [Tsunoda] was next to him,” said the race stewards.
It continues: “The stewards checked a number of [ähnlichen Fällen] in the current season and, in accordance with previous decisions regarding the seriousness of the violation, imposed a penalty in the form of a warning for the driver and a fine for the team.”
Small side aspect: AlphaTauri did not send its own representative to the stewards at the hearing about the situation. They probably didn’t want to go against their big sister team and incur a penalty for Verstappen.
Ultimately, Verstappen can keep his eleventh place on the grid. The two warnings also have no effect on the world champion at first. There is only a grid penalty if a driver has collected five warnings in a season.