Ted Kravitz rubbishes Charles Leclerc claim amid complaints about F1 rival Max Verstappen
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc last Saturday – but he received a five-second penalty from the race stewards
Despite Charles Leclerc’s objections, Ted Kravitz thinks Max Verstappen’s punishment at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was severe.
On the first corner, Verstappen forced Leclerc to go wide off the track, earning him a five-second penalty. When Leclerc complained about Verstappen’s actions, the world champion was made to spend more time in the pits by the stewards.
Verstappen won his 18th race of the year in spite of the penalty. Verstappen declined to voice any complaints regarding his punishment following the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but Sky Sports analyst Kravitz thinks the two drivers’ encounter was just “hard racing.”
When it comes to how Max Verstappen accomplished it, he started with a strong defense against Charles Leclerc on the first lap, according to Kravitz in Ted’s Notebook.
There are now two methods to approach this. The stewards determined that it was a situation that warranted a five-second penalty since it involved shoving another driver off the course. I’ve kind of seen that before, I don’t know. I thought the racing was a little difficult.
“You descend, you have an individual outside, and you proceed to carefully lead him outside, putting him in jeopardy, until you intervene and they go. Is that no longer permitted? I mean, yes, it was firm. It did cause another driver to go off.”
After Verstappen went off the track, Leclerc demanded that the stewards analyze his move right away, saying it would be a “joke” if he maintained his position. After the race, Verstappen spoke with media, saying, “I couldn’t slow down; I didn’t mean to push Charles off the track.” In retrospect, it seems like the penalty was the proper choice.”
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Following the race, Leclerc added, “Max has already come to me and explained the issue. It was obviously on, beyond the bounds. The five-second punishment, in my opinion, was justified. It was close. Even so, I attempted to push off the track, but my grip was quite poor. That’s just the way things are.
“He received a penalty, which he paid, and I believe it was the appropriate punishment to administer… I believe there is a significant benefit to taking care of the tires when there is free air, thus it would be preferable for the FIA to request that the space be returned.”
After finishing two seconds ahead of Leclerc in the Ferrari, Verstappen—who has already won a third consecutive world championship—win an exciting race in Las Vegas. Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez completed the podium.
Lance Stroll of Aston Martin finished fifth, with Carlos Sainz of Ferrari finishing just behind him. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes duo, came in seventh and eighth, respectively. On Sunday, the year’s last race will be held in Abu Dhabi.
