© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Max Verstappen’s position within his grid box at the final restart of the Australian Grand Prix has been questioned by many observers. So did Verstappen break the rules?
A bird’s eye view image of the final restart of the Australian Grand Prix caught the attention of many observers, as it showed what appeared to be Max Verstappen positioned outside of his grid box. More specifically, it appeared that Verstappen’s front tyres had been too far forward.
The situation was analysed after the race by F1 TV’s Sam Collins.
“It did look like Max Verstappen was outside of his grid box, and this has been a story in all of the opening races of this season,” Collins said.
“So I decided to take a bit more of a detailed look at Max Verstappen starting on pole position and, sure enough, on the angle that was shown on the television footage, it does look distinctly like Max Verstappen is sitting forwards of the white grid box.”
However, Collins claims that after looking at it carefully, it didn’t seem like Verstappen was outside the regulations.
“After a bit of further investigation, it’s actually a little bit of a trick of the light, a bit of a trick of the angle of the camera,” Collins continued.
“Actually, Max Verstappen’s wheels, the front wheels, the front tyres, are in contact with the white line of the grid box, which is the important factor here.
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“The regulations state that no part of the tyre, the contact patch, that’s the bit of the wheel that actually touches the ground, can sit forwards of that white line.
“But [Verstappen’s] contact patch is just, by a matter of probably a few millimetres, fully in contact with the white line.
“So Verstappen’s car is just within the regulations. He is legal. This restart stuff, ‘was he out of grip position?’, it’s not accurate.
“He was in the correct grid position, only by a matter of millimetres, and he nearly got caught out when that car lurched forwards just at the start of the restart.
“But, as it stands, his car was in a legal position for that restart.”
Since Lewis Hamilton was positioned right behind Verstappen, and any penalty would promote the Briton to race winner, Sky Germany asked Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff to give his opinion on the situation. The Austrian agreed that Verstappen did not break the rules.
The FIA also did not formally investigate the situation.
