Verstappen vs Leclerc - Overtake Fair or Foul?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Max Verstappen is under investigation for his late pass on Charles Leclerc in Austria - do you think the move was fair by the Dutch Red Bull racer?

Displaying all the skills we know the young Dutchman to be capable of in his short time at the top level of motorsport, Max Verstappen recovered in fantastic fashion at the Austrian Grand Prix to put himself in with a shout of race victory during the closing moments of the race - leading to the Red Bull into trying for a pass on Charles Leclerc and eventual race victory - in controversial circumstances.

Under investigation by the race stewards post-race, do you think the pass on Leclerc was fair, or do you think Verstappen should be penalised for his move on the young Ferrari driver?

Let us know your thoughts!

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[MoerasGrizzly]

It seemed fair to me. It was a divebomb for sure, but LeClerc wasn't put at risk or had his car damaged in any way.

 

[AncalagonTotof]

To be consistent with recent penalties, it is 100% unfair and deserve a penalty.
Our own opinions doesn't matter.
Should they matter, FIA would :
- remove a lot of aero things
- make tires last a lot longer, and forbid those to lose marbles rendering anything but the racing line undrivable
- allow a car to fill tank with enough fuel for a complete race, avoiding fuel management

List is not exhaustive.

 

[Ricoow]

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1145389212625252352
No further action

 

[Andreas Knöpke]

The FIA is at fault here.
That kind of stuff is terrible for the sport and especially for us, the audience.

We want to watch close racing WITH side by side action.
But this **** where the overtaking guy can just push the outside guy wide in a proper Hamilton-esque move ist simply terrible.

I'll never understand why the FIA doesn't implement a very simple rule that applies to tight corners:
If you are attacking on the inside, you gotta stay on the inside.

That way the outside guy gets a change to counter and there is a much bigger chance for a great run-off towards the next corner. Which is what the audience wants to see.

 

[RobertGracie]

As far as I can see it was fair racing, LeClerc didnt wanna give up the position and he battled for it right up to the bump and to be honest after the fiasco the Stewards had in Canada, they should say it was just racing and leave it there!

It was a racing move enough said!

Canada was badly done, Austria was better since it was a racing incident and there doesnt need to be a time penalty and in Document 45 and if you do disagree with me you are disagreeing with Tom "Mr Le Mans" Kristensen who knows his stuff about racing he won Le Mans 9 times, disagreement shows you are not really understanding, if you can win at Le Mans 9 times and can race with 3 other racing categories of cars on the same track you are qualified enough to be a Steward....

 

[Tomi]

Max did won that corner to himself and Charles should've give up earlier. But modern tracks are all around asphalt so you don't have to give up even if you should. You can stay outside because there's nothing to be afraid if you go totally outside of the track. And after that it's easy to blame that car inside forced out of the track when in the end it is outside car's fault because it stayed there.

 

[motoliser]

I call it the MAX rule!!! Max allways gets away with pushing people off track for no reason!!! There's allways more than enough room but he just can't resist pushing people off track.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Firstly I admit I'm a fan of Verstappen. Secondly I'll admit I'm a fan of hard racing. Thirdly I'll admit I'm no fan of penalties for track action.

However, and this rubs me the wrong way to say it, but for me that move looked to be 100% foul, and worth a penalty based on recent decisions over the last 12 months or so.

Verstappen went up the inside, late but fair. Then made for a trajectory directly into the space of the Ferrari, with far longer than needed with the wheel held straight, directly planning to shut down any option for Leclerc to avoid contact and remain on the track, plus contact with Leclerc, leaving the Ferrari no option but to leave the circuit.

Ok so the investigation came back with no future action needed, so the discussion is purely academic now, but for me it was clear as the day is long that something should have been done about that, and the move wasn't fair.

 

[mogotron]

Lets face it, Its Max, in FIA eyes this brat can do no wrong, He could crash into anyone, get them out the race and he will received no penalty, meanwhile seb penalty on cabada was no worse thant this IMO,(I am not a seb fan) I am a F1 fan, but **** like this and them protecting drivers like this is whats driving me away from current F1, thank God I did not watched this race.

 

[muzikant]

I call it the MAX rule!!! Max allways gets away with pushing people off track for no reason!!! There's allways more than enough room but he just can't resist pushing people off track.

Like always your complain about Max...open your eyes and enjoy

 

[vee10]

Firstly I admit I'm a fan of Verstappen. Secondly I'll admit I'm a fan of hard racing. Thirdly I'll admit I'm no fan of penalties for track action.

However, and this rubs me the wrong way to say it, but for me that move looked to be 100% foul, and worth a penalty based on recent decisions over the last 12 months or so.

Verstappen went up the inside, late but fair. Then made for a trajectory directly into the space of the Ferrari, with far longer than needed with the wheel held straight, directly planning to shut down any option for Leclerc to avoid contact and remain on the track, plus contact with Leclerc, leaving the Ferrari no option but to leave the circuit.

Ok so the investigation came back with no future action needed, so the discussion is purely academic now, but for me it was clear as the day is long that something should have been done about that, and the move wasn't fair.

Spot on, if you apply the rules it's a foul. F1 making it up as they go along, now no one knows we're we are.

 

[muzikant]

Lets face it, Its Max, in FIA eyes this brat can do no wrong, He could crash into anyone, get them out the race and he will received no penalty, meanwhile seb penalty on cabada was no worse thant this IMO,(I am not a seb fan) I am a F1 fan, but **** like this and them protecting drivers like this is whats driving me away from current F1, thank God I did not watched this race.

So where was the fia in the Austin GP the corner he past raikonen and the brasil race with Ocon? In Brazil Max was on p1.... manny dissisions was not to the advantage of Max The fia today make a good dessision. Let them race, thats why people love this sport. It was close but not to hart.

 

[Dennemark]

Looked to me like Verstappen held the steering angle just fine, and LeClerc after pulling out from his initial turn-in chose to increase steering angle again to stay on track and inevitably caused a collision.
One argument in his favour is that he didn't want to go off-track, one argument against him is that going off-track due to being forced off-track actually could have gotten Verstappen the penalty.
For Max, staying on the inside didn't work, so he didn't steer in as hard the next time. It caught LeClerc by surprise.

It's just fair racing. LeClerc and all the other drivers are more than welcome to perform such moves themselves now.
If you want good racing, you can't slap a penalty on every single tactic that isn't "clean", because "clean" racing is how only the best cars win, not the best drivers. Might as well let AI do it in that event.

 

[GP20]

By pushing leclerc out of the track he just secured his overtake.

Remember that on the previous lap at the same corner Leclerc was able to get back his position.

This time by pushing Leclerc out of the track he made it clear that Leclerc would not be able to gain back his position.
It was unsportiv for sure.

 

[Jani1980]

A round before was space enough and then suddenly no more...

 

[schlitty]

I like Leclerc and don't care for Max but that's the *poop* I want to see on a Sunday! The lap before with the successful defense had me out of my seat. The pass was a bit dangerous with neither backing down. That's excitement. Literally wheel to wheel racing. Max could've probably got it cleaner in another lap, but I don't want that to be a penalty. Gimme more of that type of racing!

 

[mogotron]

So where was the fia in the Austin GP the corner he past raikonen and the brasil race with Ocon? In Brazil Max was on p1.... manny dissisions was not to the advantage of Max The fia today make a good dessision. Let them race, thats why people love this sport. It was close but not to hart.

they couldnt fix that one, He was completely outside the track surface, that would had been the last straw, or you think he didnt deserve the penalty then? sure let him pass cars outside the track right?? yea let them race if it was anybody else today that would had made that move, I guarantee you it would had been a penalty. ie seb, ham, Bottas, bet my house if it was the other way around (Leclerc passing Max the same way) Lecrec would had a 5 second penalty.

 

[Stan Marlow]

The red team can't seem to get a break. Two controversial decisions and both going against them. Just as they seem to get a win something happens. It looks like Max was a bit too eager and made a mistake while he could have made the overtake much cleaner later. By the book - clear 5 sec penalty. But now they want more exciting racing. In Canada they were a bit more by the book.

 

[Benutzername]

That was EXACTLY the same move as Nico did against Lewis few years ago.
Both just drove a few meters further straight to be safely in front. A bit dirty, because the other driver only has the option:
- Stay on track, room gets less and less and the steer right into the other driver because their isnt space left, risking both races
- Waiting on the outside. And waiting. And waiting. Until there is room but the position is lost
- drive through the runoff