FIA once again made a decision which directly hurt Ferrari. After the Canadian GP in which they took away the win from Sebastian Vettel, FIA gave one to Max Verstappen today in Austria.
The young Dutch driver had an amazing sequence in the second part of the race today, and have made a superb comeback. But the way he took over the first position from Charles Leclerc was pretty controversial.
He practically pushed Ferrari’s vehicle, gaining a decisive advantage which decided the race.
“What the hell was that?” Leclerc started shouting on the radio, making all sorts of comments on Verstappen’s behalf.
After the race, that particular moment was under the review, but the race stewards decided that there were not enough evidence to punish Verstappen, which triggered a massive viral shock.
Verstappen, meanwhile, had an explanation of his own, saying that these sorts of close driving incidents are happening all the time and that he didn’t do anything wrong.
“It’s hard racing; otherwise, we have to stay home. If those things are not allowed in racing, what is the point of being in F1?”
Some are saying that the youngster’s comments have been ironic and a little bit cheeky, especially because his history of incidents with Ferrari is significant. There are certain rumors which are suggesting that the Dutch might join Mercedes and that two sides have an agreement for quite some time. That would explain his motivation when facing the red car near him.
Meanwhile, Leclerc was much calmer after the race and hearing at the race steward. But his grudge was apparent, and it couldn’t be hidden.
The reason why many anxiously awaited the ruling for this situation is to see whether FIA has some “preferences” towards non-Ferrari teams, as the fans mostly wrote on social networks. Sebastian Vettel lost the first position in Canada for a much lighter incident, and many believed that FIA would continue to have the same criteria in this case.
But a significant part of the fans had a bit different opinion. And they were right.
#F1 – Austrian Grand Prix – Documents 49 & 50 pic.twitter.com/yrsnLSpPh1
— FIA (@fia) June 30, 2019
This only increases doubts in the regularity of the championship. It also heats up the rumors about some sort of a “war” against the Italian manufacturer who is already struggling to keep the pace with the dominant Mercedes.
Many of the popular sports figures shared the opinion that Red Bull’s driver should have been punished.
For example, Logan Riley stated that she believes he should be punished because of reckless driving.
“Max made a reckless decision, and it was a deliberate one at that knowing he had the momentum with laps to spare anyway. There is no dispute, Max deserves a penalty without question!”
Jesse Clark had the same opinion, but his reasons are different. He stated that if Vettel got punished in Canada, without any contact at all, Verstappen should be penalized without hesitation; otherwise, it would be a policy of double standards.
“But fair is fair, Vettel got penalized, and didn’t even touch Hamilton in Canada….so you need to be consistent.”
After revealing the decision, FIA is blasted from all sides, as the fans, along with former drivers, and famous athletes, accuse this organization of not being fair. Since Charlie Whiting died, a lot has changed there, and according to many, things are much worse than before. New sets of rules are leaving a possibility for one race steward to have a huge impact on the race and the results.
It’s no wonder Tom Thayer believes F1 is awful right now.
“This year is the worst yet for formula one,” he said. “All these rules and regulations are making it a waste of my time to tune in.”
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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