Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen penalties given full explanation by FIA chief

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It is not possible to compare and contrast the penalties received by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen after their recent collisions, according to FIA racing director Michael Masi. The duo first controversially came together at Silverstone when Hamilton clipped the back of Verstappen’s Red Bull to send the Dutchman crashing into the barriers during the opening lap of the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty but the seven-time world champion still recovered to take the win.

At Monza last weekend, it was Verstappen’s turn to initiate contact.

Hamilton came out of the pit lane and took the inside line, forcing Verstappen wide as he refused to yield.

His Red Bull bounced aggressively off the kerb and landed on top of Hamilton’s Mercedes, with the Brit saved from a potentially serious injury by the halo.

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The 36-year-old was left with a sore neck and while both cars were forced to retire, Verstappen was controversially awarded a three-place grid penalty ahead of next weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.

F1 racing director Masi highlighted that, with the Dutchman out of the race, it would be inexplicable to award Red Bull a time penalty.

“One of the things that we’ve generally agreed amongst the teams is that a five-second or a 10-second penalty, give or take, is there or thereabouts between the two of them,” he said.

“You need to look at it on the basis of if they had continued, it would have been the time penalty in the race. However, they didn’t.

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“In Silverstone, you can’t compare them at all. 

“You’ve got two cars taken out in one incident, versus one car taken out in another incident – as in they stopped, they could not continue to serve the penalty is what I’m trying to explain.

“A grid penalty, as we’ve seen, is what is applied for this year as we’ve agreed with all of the teams, is applied for when someone doesn’t continue.”

Masi’s view was different to that of Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who accepted the penalty but insisted both drivers should have been equally penalised. 

With the two title rivals battling hard for the championship, there is every chance they will come together again in the final eight races of the season.

However, Masi is confident he can keep things under control.

“The pattern of escalation is a perception for some, depending on which person you’re looking at supporting,” Masi added. 

“I think if you ask Christian you’d probably get a completely different perspective on it

“So you know from that one, I’m not going to get into the games.

“We have a very close, exciting championship between two fantastic drivers – and that’s the part we should all be focusing on.”

Formula 1 returns for the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi on September 26, with Verstappen holding a slender five-point lead over seven-time world champion Hamilton. 

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