© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes has asked for a right to review the Brazilian Grand Prix incident that saw Max Verstappen push Lewis Hamilton wide and off the track.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went side-by-side on Turn 4 of Lap 48 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, when Verstappen went wide and pushed Hamilton off the track.
The stewards noted the incident, but later decided that no action will be taken against Verstappen. Race Director Michael Masi later admitted the stewards did not look at his onboard footage before making their decision.
Today the footage was released, and while it shows that Verstappen did turn his wheel to (supposedly) make the corner, it is obvious that he could not, and he pushed Hamilton wide.
It can be debated whether Verstappen did this on purpose, but it cannot be debated that them going wide and off the track was his fault, and after the incident he gained an unfair advantage, because had they not gone wide, he would have been overtaked by Hamilton.
After the footage was released Mercedes announced they have asked the FIA for a right to review the incident.
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“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas team confirms that we have today requested a Right of Review under Article 14.1.1 of the International Sporting Code, in relation to the Turn 4 incident between Car 44 and Car 33 on lap 48 of the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix, on the basis of new evidence unavailable to the Stewards at the time of their decision,” wrote Mercedes in a statement.
The rules of right of review require that competitors bring “a significant and relevant new element’ that was ‘unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned”.
Well, the new element is Verstappen’s onboard footage that Masi admitted was not available for the stewards when they made the original verdict.
Under F1’s Sporting Regulations “the Race Director may report any on-track incident or suspected breach of these Sporting Regulations or the Code (an “Incident”) to the stewards. After review it shall be at the discretion of the stewards to decide whether or not to proceed with an investigation.”
If the FIA finds Verstappen to be in breach of the sporting rules he could face a time-penalty to be added to his Brazilian Grand Prix final time, or a grid drop for the next race.
