Max Verstappen, who won second pole, has been called in by the FIA's Competition Tribunal after qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Here's their verdict!
He drove the car on pole, but Max Verstappen was “only” second in Montreal on Saturday. The defending champion, who had the same result as George Russell, had to wait some extra time as he had to appear before FIA judges.
The federation charged him with a pit lane violation, saying he did not follow the race director's instructions and did not move to the fast lane of the pit lane before entering one of the tracks as required.
In Q2, Verstappen was caught up in the pit lane commotion, being thrown out of the pit lane by his team, but unable to find a place in the fast lane, he just waited. A Williams allowed him to move ahead, but according to the FIA, he did not exit the pit lane in the position he was classified in, as he had not even moved into the fast lane at the start.
“The team claimed that they assumed that car #1 had crossed the white line separating the fast lane and the works lane when leaving the garage, so they followed rule 34.8 for leaving the pit lane on a first-come, first-served basis.” The stewards decided that this assumption was inaccurate as no wheel on car #1 crossed the line separating the fast lane and the works area.
“As car #1 was not on the fast track at the start of practice, the rules and the Race Director’s notes required it to line up as soon as it was safe, which meant opening up a suitable area between cars already on the track.” The judges found that these criteria had been met and therefore took no further action. – Mention the FIA's justification.
