Formula 1

[D365]

I read it as his temper tantrum was so bad he managed to exacerbate the existing injury!

It appears that other news outlets are now citing this BBC article. Whether or not that’s stoking the flames, is anyone’s guess!

 

[DarloRich]

It appears that other news outlets are now citing this BBC article. Whether or not that’s stoking the flames, is anyone’s guess!

I do wonder if the wording is a bit, er, vague to avoid any issues with AM and allow the reader to make thier own conclusions.

 

[66701GBRF]

and I think the World Champion does deserve a bit of a championship advantage in terms of getting away with things that Ocon might not get away with.

Absolutely not. There should no leeway or advantage based on driver or standings.

 

[yoyothehobo]

Max Verstappen once again showing he is a fantastic driver, probably the fastest at one lap pace.

But his actual racecraft and racing skills are rookie at best and as soon as things arent going his way he becomes a petulant child.

 

[Tetchytyke]

and I think the World Champion does deserve a bit of a championship advantage in terms of getting away with things that Ocon might not get away with

They should all be treated the same, without fear or favour.

Mr Benson that appears to speculate that it was Stroll Jr’s purported temper tantrum (no other way of putting it) which hurt his hand(s). Rather than pre-existing damage from Stroll’s pre-season cycling accident in 2024.

I very much doubt he’s speculating. Despite the brickbats that Verstappen fans like to fling at him, Benson is generally pretty well informed when it comes to these things.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Its no defence but Red Bull garage made a lousy strategic move swapping him to hards with so few laps to go and left him vulnerable after safety car restart and then telling him "if i was you I'd give the place to Russell" poured fuel on the fire. They ought to have left him out and given him track position and given him a chance to fight hard to hold the MclLaren's off. So im afraid just another example of Red Bull having lost there way this year.

 

[D365]

I very much doubt he’s speculating. Despite the brickbats that Verstappen fans like to fling at him, Benson is generally pretty well informed when it comes to these things.

Indeed - it was just my surprise at the way his article is written, but as @DarloRich points out, it could very well be a case of treading the journalism tightrope.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Indeed - it was just my surprise at the way his article is written, but as @DarloRich points out, it could very well be a case of treading the journalism tightrope.

Yeah definitely, that was also my point. Benson is generally pretty well informed so if he’s implying that Stroll hurt his hand after having a fit of rage then it’s because someone has told him exactly what happened.

And yes, I can well imagine that punching a wall (for instance) would ‘aggravate’ a hand injury!

 

[DelW]

Here's a headline I never thought I'd see: "Max Verstappen ... accepts blame"

Max Verstappen: Red Bull driver accepts blame for controversial clash with George Russell at Spanish Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and George Russell made contact twice during the latter stages of the Spanish Grand Prix; Verstappen has accepted blame for the second contact which Russell says felt deliberate; stewards gave Verstappen a 10-second time penalty for the incident and three penalty points

www.skysports.com

Max Verstappen: Red Bull driver accepts blame for controversial clash with George Russell at Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen and George Russell made contact twice during the latter stages of the Spanish Grand Prix; Verstappen has accepted blame for the second contact which Russell says "felt deliberate"; stewards gave Verstappen a 10-second time penalty for the incident and three penalty points

Max Verstappen has admitted his controversial clash with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix was "not right".

 

[DarloRich]

Putting aside the spoilt childishness of Max Verstappen: Nico Hulkenburg 5th!

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Putting aside the spoilt childishness of Max Verstappen: Nico Hulkenburg 5th!

And after I replaced him in my Fantasy F1 team a couple of races ago as he didn't seem to be getting anywhere... *sigh* should have trusted the Hulk...

... Anyone else do Fantasy F1?

 

[DarloRich]

Anyone else do Fantasy F1?

no - i gave up with it. i kept forgetting to do things!

 

[Tetragon213]

Of all the races to miss, because I thought Barcelona would be a snooze-fest and so I signed on for a shift at a heritage line instead...

McLaren are now pulling away from Max nicely. Barring a 2016-esque crash, I can't see Max catching up any time soon. Speaking of which, what a spoilt man-baby. Should've been a 10-second stop-go for what he did, if not a black flag.

 

[JamesT]

I wonder if there's anything that could be done to speed up the Steward's decision-making, which I think has contributed to this mess with Verstappen. If they could have told Red Bull there was no need to hand back the place to Russell (as I think the coverage said later), then Max wouldn't be slowing down. Similarly, they've chickened out of a disqualification, but as the race had ended then all they really have to play with is time penalties. A drive-through or a stop-and-go would have been harsher, but as the incident only happened with two laps to go...

 

[SuspectUsual]

down. Similarly, they've chickened out of a disqualification, but as the race had ended then all they really have to play with is time penalties. A drive-through or a stop-and-go would have been harsher, but as the incident only happened with two laps to go...

They could have given him 4 points rather than 3……

 

[najaB]

They could have given him 4 points rather than 3……

Is there precedent for the number of points given in this type of incident?

 

[Cloud Strife]

Absolutely not. There should no leeway or advantage based on driver or standings.

Of course there shouldn't be, but this is the reality in every sport: the champion always gets something 'more'. Fergie time, dodgy counts in boxing (Wilder-Fury I comes to mind), or now this, it's always the way. I think I understand why they've done it, because it's not good for the sport to disqualify the world champion. People want to see Max, they don't tune in to see Lance Stroll.

I wonder if there's anything that could be done to speed up the Steward's decision-making, which I think has contributed to this mess with Verstappen.

IMO, F1 should simply get rid of the stewards. There should be a single Race Control that goes from race to race with a director who is responsible for all sporting decisions, and Race Control would have full authority over all the FIA-related processes in a given weekend. Race Control would then be backed up by senior local marshals who know the specifics of the track, so that decisions over things like track limits could be made with local insight.

In this case, a F1 "VAR" could be sitting in Race Control, they could quickly establish whether or not to refer the incident to the Race Director, and the Race Director could make a quick "give the place back" or "nah it's fine" decision. In practice, the Race Director would have full control over the team in Race Control, and so they'd only need a glance at the incident to agree or not with the decision of the VAR.

Referring racing incidents to the stewards just causes a lengthy delay, nothing more. There's absolutely no reason why Race Control can't handle everything, and I think something has to be done about these lengthy delays for the stewards to make a decision. Many racing incidents don't need 10-15 minutes to resolve, and in the case of Max and Russell, it's bonkers that Red Bull didn't get a "it's fine, race on" message within 15-20 seconds.

 

[SynthD]

I wonder if there's anything that could be done to speed up the Steward's decision-making

No, it won’t be correct if they rush. We are already well used to post race decisions and delays on official results. We have sometimes seen another car come between cars that should swap places to avoid a penalty, this can happen before the stewards even announce they’re looking into an incident.

Similarly, they've chickened out of a disqualification, but as the race had ended then all they really have to play with is time penalties.

They can give a race ban, or as they did here, points towards a ban.

 

[PG]

Putting aside the spoilt childishness of Max Verstappen: Nico Hulkenburg 5th!

I bet it felt good overtaking a Ferrari in order to get it too, though I doubt Lewis Hamilton saw it that way!

People want to see Max, they don't tune in to see Lance Stroll.

Just as well they don't seeing as how he didn't even turn up on Sunday due to a self inflicted injury - talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

 

[JamesT]

They can give a race ban, or as they did here, points towards a ban.

What isn't entirely clear to me is who dishes out the penalty points. All the coverage states that happened later and talks about it being an FIA system, rather than the race stewards.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

What isn't entirely clear to me is who dishes out the penalty points. All the coverage states that happened later and talks about it being an FIA system, rather than the race stewards.

The stewards issue the points alongside other penalties, they're noted on the Stewards Decision document, eg here:

Fact Car 1 collided with Car 63 at turn 5.
Infringement Breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the FIA International Sporting Code.
Decision 10 second time penalty.
3 penalty points (total of 11 for the 12 month period).

https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_spanish_grand_prix_-_infringement_-_car_1_-_causing_a_collision_with_car_63_at_t5.pdf

 

[DarloRich]

Interesting discussion on various pods about who might replace Stroll if he isn't fit to drive in Canada.

Both Felipe Drugovich & Stoffel Vandoorne (the AM reserves drivers) are driving at Le Mans the weekend of the Canadaian GP. Jak Crawford doesn't have enough super points meaning they have no one instantly available.

There was discussion about giving up your Le Mans drive for F1 and most of the ex drivers said they would have already booked a ticket but it is a big risk to do so on an IF.

The only other option: Valtteri Bottas ( or perhaps Sergio Perez!)

 

[Cloud Strife]

No, it won’t be correct if they rush

I think they can and should rush in straightforward situations. This wasn't anything major, it didn't require a huge amount of discussion, and they could have easily radioed Red Bull to say "wait for further decision" to make it clear that Max didn't have to return the place immediately. It shouldn't be up to the teams to police themselves, especially in situations like this where Race Control could make a decision in 30 seconds.

 

[JD2168]

George Russell has won the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen & Kimi Antonelli. Oscar Piastri was the only McLaren finisher after Lando Norris collided with the rear of his car on the pit straight attempting a move that wasn’t on. The incident was eerily similar to Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button in 2011.

The only other retirees were Alex Albon & Liam Lawson.

The other points behind Piastri are Leclerc, Hamilton (who had damage throughout the race after an unfortunate collision with a Groundhog), Alonso, Hulkenberg, Ocon & Sainz.

The next race is Austria which unlike the last few years is a standard weekend

 

[gswindale]

I'm hearing that Red Bull have lodged a protest to do with the driving of George Russell behind the safety car. Apparently Verstappen thought it was erratic and also there's been a complaint about how far behind the safety car Russell was at times.

 

[Tetragon213]

I'm hearing that Red Bull have lodged a protest to do with the driving of George Russell behind the safety car. Apparently Verstappen thought it was erratic and also there's been a complaint about how far behind the safety car Russell was at times.

Bit rich for Max to be whining about that, isn't it?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Bit rich for Max to be whining about that, isn't it?

Yes; it's almost as if he doesn't want any attention on him slipping past Russell while the safety car was active...?

 

[D365]

The next race is Austria which unlike the last few years is a standard weekend

Thank goodness. The sprint races continue to add very little in the way of racing quality.

 

[Broucek]

Thank goodness. The sprint races continue to add very little in the way of racing quality.

There are already too many races in a season without adding the sprints....

 

[DarloRich]

Thank goodness. The sprint races continue to add very little in the way of racing quality.

There are already too many races in a season without adding the sprints....

they do add to the experience if you are at the track though.