05/12/2021
NEWS STORY
The Jeddah stewards have summoned race winner Lewis Hamilton and title rival Max Verstappen following today's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Hamilton are summoned for the same incident, that on lap 38, when the pair touched in Turn 27 moments after the Dutchman was told to hand position back to the world champion.
Both are charged with an alleged breach of Breach of Article 2 (d) Chapter IV Appendix L of the FIA International Sporting Code.
Verstappen has already been handed a 5s time penalty, and a penalty point, after being adjudged as leaving the track (at Turn 1) and gaining a lasting advantage as they battled for position.
Perez and Leclerc are summoned for the incident at the second restart when the pair locked wheels, eliminating the Mexican on the spot and in turn leading to the high-speed clash involving George Russell and Nikita Mazepin.
The Hamilton/Verstappen incident was seen by (British) TV pundits initially as the fault of the Dutchman, who Damon Hill accused of "brake testing" his rival, however on further viewings the Briton gave the Red Bull driver the benefit of the doubt.
Certainly there was a lack of communication, for while Verstappen had been told to hand the lead back to Hamilton, the same information had not been given to the Mercedes driver.
"I didn't quite understand why all of a suddenly he hit the brakes quite heavily," said Hamilton, "then I ran into the back of him and then he moved on.
"I didn't understand exactly what was going on," he added, "and I got a message afterwards that he was going to let us past, so it was a bit confusing."
Meanwhile, as Toto Wolff insists that telemetry shows Verstappen slowed, speeded up and slowed again, Helmut Marko argues that Red Bull telemetry proves he didn't.