Written by Hafiz Akbar, Edited by Esmée Koppius
F1 race director Michael Masi has issued a warning towards Red Bull Racing because of a ‘victory burnout’ that one of their drivers, Max Verstappen, did yesterday. The young talented Dutchman won the Styrian Grand Prix with some margin to the next driver and championship rival Lewis Hamilton, leading every lap of the race after qualifying in pole the day before.
Masi spoke after the race and made himself clear that this kind of action must not happen again and that it will not be tolerated in future races.
As clearly stated in the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, Article 43.3, any post-race celebrations that drivers do must be done within strict limits, including but not limited to:
Performed safely and does not endanger other drivers or any officials
Does not call into question the legality of the car
Does not delay the podium ceremony.
Verstappen did the act whilst being so close to the chequered flag, violating Point a) of the article we’ve just mentioned, which in turn prompted Masi to issue the warning as it was a dangerous act to do at the time. Whilst he was some distance away from Hamilton in second place, there are still the backmarkers who are still battling the race out to the very end and in the hypothetical event that Verstappen spun, those backmarkers could’ve hit him. Had he done it in the cooldown lap, it wouldn’t be viewed as dangerous since all, or rather, most, of the drivers have made their way into the pits
Verstappen himself has had quite the impressive start to the season, racking up four wins out of the eight races already held this season, sending him top of the provisional world championship table. His team, Red Bull Racing, is also top of the standings following an abysmal Monaco GP, and two absolutely dreadful races in Baku three weeks ago and Le Castellet last week by the current Constructors’ Champion, Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 Team.