Max Verstappen and George Russell receive additional F1 penalties from Las Vegas GP stewards.
Max Verstappen and George Russell receive additional F1 penalties from Las Vegas GP stewards.
Max Verstappen and George Russell were both given penalty points during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but a second time penalty was given to the race for the offence.
Max Verstappen and George Russell both received penalties in addition to time penalties during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Both drivers received in-race penalties for their on-track behavior during the night race at Sin City. Both incidents involved Dutchman Verstappen, who was at the center of the incident until he won his 18th title in 2023.
He was penalized for the first thing he did after the lights went out. He had a slightly better shot than polesitter Charles Leclerc and they entered the first corner side by side.
But Verstappen, who was on the inside, went off the track and also pushed the Ferrari past the white line.
The stewards timed the incident and Red Bull did not have to give the driver a back seat. In the end, it was decided that a five-second penalty shot was appropriate for the three-time world champion.
And later Russell received the same penalty for causing a collision with Verstappen. The Red Bull driver was trying to regain his classification after making a pit stop and was given a penalty when he met the Brit on the track.
He tried to overtake on the inside, but the Mercedes spun towards him, not knowing he was there. This resulted in damage to his front wing, which ultimately did not cost Verstappen much, but the stewards felt the penalty was necessary for Russell regardless
He won a fine after serving a fine, and Russell did not rise to the end, Ia added to his time in five seconds.
When he took the fourth place on the road, he took the flag, but is in the optimum after being used. In addition to these penalties, both drivers also received penalty points on their racing licences.
Verstappen was clean so his total is now two and Russell’s is four. Both are still well over the 12 mark so a single race ban applies. Both drivers admitted they deserved the punishment. Verstappen: “My aim was not to push Charles off the track, but I couldn’t slow him down.
It had four wheels and was slippery. So we had to go to a bigger place. At the time, I was full of adrenaline and not happy with the decision. But looking back, it was probably the right thing to do.”
Russell explained: “What happened to Max was my fault. I didn’t see it and until I was 11 it was in my blind spot.
I didn’t expect to overtake here as it makes up a lot of the length with DRS afterwards. Back then we were walking on the catwalk of light, it was very simple. So we moved up to 4th, but the 5 second penalty put us in 8P.”
