At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday, Max Verstappen caused a stir when he tangled with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton during second practice. This prompted the race director to take harsh measures.
Following practice’s near-miss between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 stars are prohibited from passing during the pit lane exit of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
During the second session on Friday, the Red Bull racer grew impatient with cars moving slowly ahead of him. As soon as he reached the pit lane exit, he swept straight past George Russell who reported it over the radio.
Verstappen then had to brake sharply to avoid contact with Hamilton. But he still muscled his way past the Brit before doing the same to Pierre Gasly before he could finally zoom onto the track in free air.
The Dutchman was entitled to do what he did and, despite some suggestions that he should have been punished, there was nothing in the rules that banned him from overtaking there. But that has now changed.
F1 race director Niels Wittich has revised his event notes to outlaw anyone else from trying something similar for the rest of the weekend. “Overtaking is prohibited in the pit exit road unless a car slows with an obvious problem,” the document now reads.
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft had been on air at the time of the pit lane incident on Friday. And it had come not long after Verstappen had moaned over the radio about Alex Albon pushing into the queue ahead of him.
“Can you please report that?” Verstappen had asked over the radio, leaving Croft unimpressed. He immediately replied: “Says the man who literally stopped for 12 seconds at the end of the pit lane in Singapore! Come on, Max. ‘Can you please report that’. It’s a practice session
Furthermore, he likewise expressed his genuine thoughts about Verstappen’s overwhelming in the pit path exit, adding: “It’s a piece saucy that, as a matter of fact. Presently the thing he’s attempting to do is move beyond Pierre Gasly. Max, quiet down. There’s no requirement for that, I don’t think. It’s simply senseless, I don’t see the requirement for it.”
Talking after the meeting, Verstappen was proud and faulted the people who impeded him for moving too leisurely. Well, they need to move,” he said. “They are driving sluggish, and I need to go out on the grounds that we are restricted on time, and they simply continue to drive in the center. Then, when I attempted to pass, they attempted to crush me in the wall. No doubt about it… a piece senseless.”