Mercedes request review of Verstappen-Hamilton Sao Paulo Grand Prix clash
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
The Silver Arrows have asked to take another look at the incident.
Mercedes have requested a review of the decision not to take any action against Max Verstappen for an incident involving Lewis Hamilton during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Verstappen went off track when the Brit tried to pass the Red Bull driver and move into the lead at Turn 4 on lap 48 of the race on Sunday.
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The stewards "noted" the incident, but did not see any reason to penalise the Dutchman.
Hamilton went on to win the race, reducing Verstappen's lead in an enthralling Formula 1® title race to 14 points with three races to go.
The Silver Arrows on Tuesday revealed they have asked for the stewards to take another look at the incident on the basis of "new evidence."
A short statement from the team read: "The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 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 Brazilian Grand Prix, on the basis of new evidence unavailable to the stewards at the time of their decision."
F1® confirmed that the stewards will now meet with representatives from the team to assess the new evidence.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff branded Verstappen's defence as "over the line", but Red Bull boss Christian Horner saw nothing untoward.
He said: "Penalty for what? I mean, there's no advantage gained, there's no contact been made, so… I think it's just hard racing between the two of them.
"And yes, I think that the stewards actually made the right decision on that. We've talked about this many, many times, about the 'let them race' mentality. I think they made the right call today.
"It's two guys running hard. Lewis has got a run around the outside, Max has gone in deep, they've both gone wide. It would have been really unfair to penalise on that. If it had been the other way round, I'd have told my sporting director to have a moan about it, but I wouldn't have expected to get anything from it.
"You want to see the guys going hard at it. You know with Max, he's going to race hard, Lewis is exactly the same. That's two guys fighting for a world championship so it's going to be tough racing. I think it was fair, there was no contact, and they rejoined and recommenced it a few laps later."
