Max Verstappen has given his take on the controversial Lewis Hamilton impeding incident during the F1 Monaco GP qualifying and feels that it was Ferrari’s fault and not the driver’s. During qualifying, the Dutch driver was on a push lap when he ended up having the 7x F1 champion on the racing line inadvertently blocking him.
This led to a furious Max Verstappen shouting on the team radio, as it could have potentially been a hefty collision between the two drivers. There was, however, more to that story, as the reason for the incident was a miscommunication between Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer.
As Max Verstappen was approaching, Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer told him that the Red Bull driver was on a slow lap, which led to the Ferrari driver moving towards the fast lane and almost having a collision. Talking about this after the session, the Dutch driver had calmed down a bit and felt that it was the fault of the team, not Hamilton, that the incident happened. Talking to Sky Sports, he said,
“At the time, you see the car blocking you, and when you’re there in high speed, it’s quite.. not nice, let’s say it like that. But then I saw the team told him that I was driving slow, while I was clearly driving fast- So, it’s not Lewis’ fault. I quickly chatted to Lewis already about it. It can happen, but thats the teams mistake.”
In terms of qualified placement, Max Verstappen wasn’t affected in any which way, as the driver was able to progress to Q3. By the time the chequered flag fell on the F1 Monaco GP qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was in P4 while the Dutch driver was in P5.
Max Verstappen’s verdict on if Lewis Hamilton gets a penalty
The FIA stewards are investigating the incident between both drivers, and Lewis Hamilton is potentially going to get a 3-place grid penalty for the F1 Monaco GP. When questioned if he thought that the Ferrari driver should be given a penalty, Max Verstappen felt that it was highly likely that the driver would be penalized. Even though it wasn’t his fault but the team’s fault, such incidents do lead to penalties in general. He said,
“If you look at the history of things, yes. But, again, its more the teams fault, but unfortunately in qualifying, they normally are quite strict on these things.”
If Lewis Hamilton does end up getting a 3-place grid penalty, he would be demoted from P4 to P7 on the starting grid. At the same time, the Red Bull driver would move forward to P4 from P5. With a mandatory 2-stopper in the offing on Sunday, strategy is going to be crucial to get a strong result.
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Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
