F1 officials announce no penalties for Verstappen or Hamilton after collision in Hungary, determining incident as a racing incident and maintaining final race standings.
The FIA has delivered its verdict on the collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton during the Hungarian Grand Prix. During an intense battle between the two champions, Verstappen clipped the side of Hamilton’s W15 as he went for the overtake, sending the rear of the RB20 into the air.
Max Verstappen described the moment with certainty, stating, “Hamilton had gone off his line while braking,” suggesting a possible infringement by his counterpart. Contrastingly, Lewis Hamilton maintained that the collision was nothing out of the ordinary in the heat of a race, asserting, “This was a racing incident.”
The Stewards have now confirmed that there will be no further action against Verstappen after he was summoned after the race. The official letter read:
“Infringement: Alleged breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the FIA International Sporting Code.
“Decision: No further action.
“Reason: The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, and in-car video evidence.
“On the approach to turn 1, both Car 44 and Car 1 overtook Car 23. Car 44 returned to the racing line before the braking zone and commenced to turn into turn 1.
“Car 1 approached the turn faster than on previous laps (due to DRS) and braked at the same point as previously. The driver of Car 1 argued that Car 44 was changing direction under braking. The driver of Car 44 stated that he was simply following his normal racing line (which was confirmed by examination of video and telemetry evidence of previous laps).
“It was clear that Car 1 locked up both front wheels on the approach to turn 1 prior to any impact occurring but missing the normal cornering line for a typical overtaking manoeuvre.
“The driver of Car 44 stated that this was a racing incident, whilst the driver of Car 1 argued that this was a case of changing direction under braking.
“The Stewards do not consider this to be a typical case of ‘changing direction under braking’ although it is our determination that the driver of Car 44 could have done more to avoid the collision.
“Accordingly we determine that no driver was predominantly to blame and decide to take no further action.”
