The Mexican Grand Prix stewards have explained the decisions they took during a frenetic battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The Ferrari and Red Bull drivers were disputing third place on lap six of the race when Verstappen made a dive down the inside at Turn 1.
The momentum as he swooped through the apex carried him slightly wide and he and Hamilton made contact on the exit – with the impact forcing his rival slightly wide.
The pair then ran side-by-side before Verstappen took to the grass at Turn 2 and then rejoined after the right hander at Turn 3.
Hamilton had momentum, though, and was able to draw alongside on the run to Turn 4 – but he locked up as he attempted to go around the outside.
That took him down the escape road where he cut across the grass to rejoin ahead of Verstappen.
The multiple incidents prompted investigations from the stewards – with the collision and Verstappen’s corner cutting not picking up sanctions, but Hamilton was penalised for his run across the grass at Turn 4.
Here is what the stewards said.
The Turn 1 clash
The incident that kicked everything off was the clash at Turn 1.
But despite contact being made between the two drivers, the stewards deemed it to be a racing incident.
Interestingly, the investigation that was launched during the race was not about Verstappen being too aggressive in his lunge – but was about Hamilton not leaving enough room on the exit.
The stewards' explanation said that with Verstappen’s front axle clearly in front of Hamilton’s mirror at the apex, as is demanded in F1’s driving guidelines, that the Dutchman was “entitled to the racing line".
They added: “Hamilton remained alongside through the corner, resulting in slight contact between the wheels of both cars. The contact had no consequences for either car.”
The stewards felt that, under the circumstances, and with the contact not being serious, there was no blame apportioned predominantly on either driver.
“Considering that Hamilton had limited opportunity to leave additional space on track, that both cars were side-by-side throughout the corner and no sporting consequence resulted from the contact, and noting that in similar incidents in the past no further action was taken, the stewards determined that the matter falls within a racing incident.”
The Turn 4 calls
Hamilton faced two investigations for running wide at Turn 4 shortly after the first corner clash.
The first involved him having not used an asphalt escape road that drivers were supposed to utilise if they ran long at the corner.
While his use of the grass instead was investigated, the stewards felt that “the car was carrying too much speed to enable the driver to use the prescribed escape road” and therefore there was justifiable reason to have not followed the race directors’ instructions.
However, by using the grass and gaining track position on Verstappen, the stewards launched a separate investigation into whether Hamilton had left the track and gained a lasting advantage.
Their conclusion was that Hamilton had breached the regulations on this front, handing him a 10-second time penalty.
The stewards stated: “By leaving the track and cutting the corner, the driver gained a lasting advantage, overtaking Car 1 and failing to give back the position thereafter.”
Hamilton wasn't exactly pleased with that judgement.
He brushed off the Verstappen Turn 1 run-in as 'racing' but couldn't understand why he was penalised for cutting corners, when nobody else was.
"It felt like racing I was fine there, it was just the cutting, and I’m the only one to get a 10s penalty, it’s kind of nuts," Hamilton said after the race.
