Red Bull Racing has asked the stewards to review the incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain. Several British media report this on the basis of FIA documentation. Red Bull representatives are expected to speak to the stewards via video conference.
On July 23, the Austrian racing stable submitted a request asking the stewards of the British Grand Prix to review the decision on the incident. As a result, a letter was sent to Red Bull’s team manager, also known as Christian Horner, stating that he must report to the stewards next Thursday to speak to a maximum of three team members, including himself.
Like the F1 writer of BBC, Andrew Benson, also noted below, said it is up to the team to come up with new evidence in the case. If the team identifies “significant and relevant new elements” that were not available to the stewards when the incident happened, they may have to reconsider Hamilton’s penalty. Mercedes must also report in response to Red Bull’s request.
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Update 6:15 pm (27/07) | Verstappen does not care about Hamilton’s criminal case: ‘The task is to remain first in the championship’
Red Bull may have made an official request to the FIA to review Hamilton’s time penalty in the British Grand Prix, victim Verstappen has long since been off the issue. In a preview of the upcoming Grand Prix in Hungary, the Dutch star driver indicates that he only has one thing on his mind, and that is to secure his first world title.
Starting the race weekend at the Hungaroring, Verstappen’s lead over Hamilton in the standings is a total of 8 points, despite a hefty points gain of the seven-time champion at Silverstone. Verstappen therefore looks forward to bringing this negative momentum to a halt. “I’m happy to be back on track in Hungary this weekend, especially after the last race result.” Verstappen has little to say about the fact that Red Bull is still trying to achieve a larger penalty for Hamilton. “The team can handle the official side of things, but for me the task is the same as always: to give the best of myself and win on Sunday so that we remain first in the championship.”
Although Verstappen’s confidence has not been affected after the crash at Silverstone, it did take his body a while to absorb the impact of 51G. ‘Of course I was a bit bruised, but that is only logical after such a big accident. However, I train a lot and feel good.’ In the meantime, Verstappen had a virtual preparation to check whether he felt good in a cockpit. “I did a 24-hour sim race and that was a good test to see if sitting in one position for a long time is okay. I feel completely fine and look forward to the weekend with a positive outlook. I’m all set to race again.”
In that regard, the subject of the crash in Great Britain is a chapter that has closed for Verstappen. ‘I don’t have much more to say about it, to be honest I don’t feel like dealing with the media hype either. Of course I have my own opinion about what happened, but I am concentrating on getting the most out of myself and the car.” The leader in the standings is therefore very much looking forward to defending his lead in Hungary. “I’m enjoying the track, but let’s hope there’s a little less action this year on the way to the grid. After my slippage before the race last year, the mechanics had to work some kind of miracle to get my car ready for the race.’
Update II 14.30 (28/07) | Brundle: ‘Red Bull will come with GPS data from Hamilton’
Martin Brundle has indicated what Red Bull Racing must do to allow Lewis Hamilton’s request to be revised. The Austrian race stable wants the stewards to look at the matter again because the penalty would not be severe enough. However, in order to do this, according to the former Formula 1 driver, the team must come up with hard evidence that has not yet been delivered in the process.
“It is very difficult to come up with new information that the stewards have not yet seen,” said Brundle, who has his doubts about whether Max Verstappen’s team will succeed. “The stewards have an incredible amount of data coming from the cars, camera angles and other information that viewers don’t have access to,” he added in his analysis for Sky Sports F1.
He also explains some extra information about the process. Red Bull has currently requested a review of the incident. Brundle: ‘In this first stage, it’s about whether they offer something that is new and relevant. If that is the case, then the incident will only be reviewed. So that doesn’t happen on Thursday already.’ If the race management finds that the evidence meets both these requirements, the stewards will only open the case again.
What does Red Bull deliver?
Red Bull must therefore come up with evidence that was not previously available to the stewards. What is the team currently looking at? Brundle believes he knows: ‘I think Red Bull will come up with GPS data showing that Hamilton was going way too fast and had no intention of making that corner. Did he use Verstappen to make that corner? Did he submit at the wrong time? Or could he have been closer to the apex? Did Verstappen leave him enough space? They will look at those kinds of questions.’
“We are halfway there and this is an incident that we will talk about for years to come. If it turns out that this decision ultimately determines the championship then we are talking about a topic of conversation for the coming decades,” concludes the British F1 expert. It is therefore a decision that could have major consequences for the title fight. That is why all parties involved should think carefully about the extent to which the incident justified a time penalty of ten seconds, or whether a more serious intervention by the race management was necessary.
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