(Motorsport-Total.com) – Max Verstappen no longer has to worry about his pole position at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg. An investigation against the world champion was launched more than an hour after the end of qualifying.
Max Verstappen could still lose his pole position afterwards
Verstappen should have blocked Haas driver Kevin Magnussen at the end of the first qualifying session. He was threatened with losing three places on the starting grid, but the Dutchman has since been acquitted.
The reason given by the race stewards reads: “The driver of car 1 [Verstappen] stated that after crossing the finish line at the end of his fast lap, he saw a car behind him and veered left after the exit of Turn 1.”
“The driver of Car 20 [Magnussen] stated that he had to swerve to the right to avoid car 1 and therefore lost time on his fast lap.” So why wasn’t there a penalty for Verstappen anyway?
The stewards justify it like this: “[Wir] noted from the video (and audio) recordings that car 20 hit the curb at Turn 1 and that this subsequently caused a slight change in acceleration, which in turn resulted in a slightly slower time over the next few mini-sectors.”
In addition, Magnussen did not have to avoid Verstappen “significantly”. Incidentally, Magnussen’s corresponding lap was then canceled anyway because he himself exceeded the track limits in turn 10.
However, the stewards emphasize: “We also note that the fact that the lap time of car 20 (because it exceeded the track limits at turn 10) was subsequently canceled was irrelevant to this decision.”
“Each incident is always investigated independently of other incidents or penalties,” the race stewards clarify. Verstappen can still keep his pole position and start the Grand Prix from the front on Sunday.