After two years of Red Bull domination, Formula One appears to finally becoming a spectacle once again. Whilst Max Verstappen has won seven races this year from eleven, since thew McLaren upgrade in Miami he has won just three from six.

Ferrari’s early challenge appears to be fading and McLaren are now definitely close if not on a par with the Red Bull designed car. Mercedes are improving, but their challenge remains restricted to picking up the odd podium and of course a very lucky win for George Russell in Austria.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen gifted the British driver his second Grand Prix victory when he collided with Lando Norris at turn three last weekend in Austria. Verstappen had been cruising some eight sedans ahead when it appeared his bullet proof team cracked under pressure.

 

 

 

Red Bull under pressure finally

Max wanted to switch to a three stop strategy given the poor state of his tyres, yet the team ignored his request then botched a couple of pit stops which placed Norris within two seconds of Verstappen on the final stint of the race.

For ten laps the duo battled before they came together, the result Norris was out but the fortunate world champion managed to limp back to the pits, fit a fresh set of rubber and come home in P5.

The FIA race stewards adjudged the incident as Max’s fault and issued a ten second time penalty which when applied made no difference to the finishing position of the Dutch driver.

Of course the regulations and the stewards decision were heavily criticised given Max had forced Norris out of the race, yet he still collected the ten points for finishing in fifth place.

Friction between Wolff and Russell

 

 

 

F1 steward explains

The driver F1 steward last weekend was Johnny Herbert and he explains to Coin Poker why Verstappen’s penalty was just 10n seconds.

“That is the hardest one that can be applied under FIA guidelines that we operate under as stewards,” he said. “McLaren have said it should have been harsher, but that is the game all teams play.

“If someone had flipped over or been barrel rolling down the track I don’t know if that would have changed things. Forcing a driver off the circuit or causing an incident is what it came under.

“That was the maximum sanction we could have taken.”

Norris faces most important decision yet

 

 

 

FIA investigated Max driving standards

Under the current guidelines, the F1 stewards are not able to weight the penalty issued against the consequences of the driver’s actions. So even if Verstappen was adjudged to be in the wrong and another driver was even killed, the penalty for causing a collision would sit at ten seconds only.

Whether consideration of the consequences suffered by others from an F1 drivers actions should be considered is another topic for debate. But a team can suffer a loss of millions from their budget, drivers can lose valuable championship points yet non of this matters despite the potential intent of a driver to cause harm.

Prior to the accident, Lando Norris had been complaining about Verstappen’s behaviour and that he was moving toon late in the braking zone into turn three. This led to analysts and former F1 driver Anthony Davidson to explain the Red Bull driver’s behaviour had created doubt in Lando’s mind as to where he would put the RB20 next going into turn three.

Yet Herbet explains the stewards looked at the driving standards of Verstappen before the incident, but it was unclear whether he was in fact breaking any sporting regulations.

What went wrong for Hamilton

 

 

 

Max clever moves confuse Norris

“The good thing with someone like Max is that although he does not agree with it, he will find a way to use his weaponry in a different way,” he added. “As stewards, we looked at his under-braking and it was not clear.

“It was clever and just and just made it a bit more difficult for Lando to pick whether he went left or right into a particular corner.

“He will adjust somehow and find another way of doing it but still put the same pressure to whoever his opponent is.”

Some have criticised Norris for not backing out of the overtake move he made which resulted in the coming together between Max and himself, yet Herbert praises the McLaren driver for his bravery, suggesting giving in to Max is not the answer. 

Sainz delay and Sargeant benched for Silverstone

 

 

 

Lando refuses to budge

“It was Max’s fault. He is a hard racer,” he explained. “He is very, very hard to beat. He intimidates everybody. That intimidation is something that Lewis. Michael Schumacher, and Ayrton Senna, have always done.

“When you come up against Max as he is driving today, there’s a point if you’re Lando that you have to say: ‘I am here. I am at your side. You are trying to squeeze me off the circuit. And I am not going to move.’

“Lando did the right thing. He did not move. He did not have to. Some people said he could have moved. But that is not how you beat Max or how you win the Grand Prix.

Herbert agrees with McLaren team boss that this kind of incident is likely to occur more and more as the season progresses. Max has not been put under such pressure for a very long time and has not needed to resort to marginal tactics.

Norris “pathetic” says Marko

 

 

 

Silverstone a McLaren favourite

“It is the side of Max that has always been part of his armoury,” Herbert notes. “We haven’t seen it for a while, because he has been so dominant. It is interesting to see how he reacts under pressure. He did not agree with the penalty that came his way which also included two points on his license.”

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have just days before they find themselves on track together in Silverstone. This circuit was identified by the McLaren team as their strongest of the year at the start of the season.

While it appeared Verstappen was quicker than the following McLaren through the high speed turns in the middle sector of the Red Bull Ring circuit, this was more due to the ‘dirty air’ Lando was experiencing from following the RB20 closely.

At Silverstone the high speed corners are configured differently and the turbulent air may not disturb the car behind as much. Yet one thing is certain the fans will be glued to their seats in time for lights out on Sunday, as the expected battle continues with F1’s two fastest drivers at present.

Ricciardo early exit with silver lining

 

 

 

Sainz deal inches closer

Alpine have had a shocker of a start to the 2024 Formula One season and as recently as round eight in Monaco the team had scored just two points. The race in the principality saw the team’s boss Bruno Famin have a public meltdown following the collision between his two drivers on lap one, threatening there would be “consequences” for Esteban Ocon who was held to be a fault.

The F1 word speculated this would mean the French driver would be benched for the next race weekend, yet in the meantime Ocon announced he was leaving Alpine at the end of this season. To steady the ship, Allie have since offered Pierre Gasly an extension to his current deal which should see him at the team until the end of 2026.

The Enstone based squad started life in the 1970’s as a British minnow named Toleman, whose claim to fame was the fact they gave Ayrtn Senna his F1 debut. They were bought by Italian organisation Benetton in 1985 going on to win two world titles with Michael Schumacher as their driver and a constructors’ championship in the second of these two years.. READ MORE