30/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen keeps pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after stewards opted to take no further action over an alleged impeding incident involving Kevin Magnussen.
The Dutchman was summoned by the stewards after it was claimed he unnecessarily impeded the Dane in Turn 1 during the first phase of today's qualifying session.
The stewards heard from both drivers and their team representatives in addition to reviewing positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
Verstappen stated that he saw a car approaching after he crossed the line at the end of his push lap and moved to the left of the track after the exit of Turn 1.
Magnussen stated that he had to move to the right to avoid the Red Bull driver and hence lost time on his fast lap.
The stewards determined from the video (and audio) evidence that Magnussen had clipped the kerb in Turn 1 and that this subsequently caused a slight change in acceleration which in turn resulted in a slightly slower time on the next mini sectors. The stewards further determined that the Haas driver did not have to take significant evasive action.
They also noted that the fact that Magnussen's lap time was subsequently deleted (due to exceeding track limits at Turn 10) was irrelevant to this decision, any incident always being investigated independently of other incidents or penalties.
Check out our Friday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.