¿why Hamilton was not penalized and Verstappen yes? That was the question most often repeated at the end of the GP of Mexico, every time the manoeuvre is completed by the pilot of the Mercedes and the Red Bull was similar. However, the race stewards chose to absolve Hamilton of any type of sanction by skipping the curves 2 and 3, while Max Verstappen was penalised with five seconds to fall to the fourth position after the sanction of Sebastian Vettel. The particular conditions of both maneuvers and telemetry have marked these decisions.
Lewis Hamilton started from pole and after a good start and decided to take the first curve with a path more closed than usual. Although the british pilot spoke of problems of temperature in the brakes, the only truth is that Hamilton spent braking and took a path straight through the grass to skip the curve 2 and 3. However, the telemetry showed Hamilton slowed down, immediately after with the aim of losing the advantage which he had acquired on the outside of the track. In other words, Charlie Whiting and the stewards determined that he failed to get an “lasting benefit”.
on the contrary, in the case of Max Verstappen commissioners
determined that the pilot of Red Bull itself took advantage in your
step on the grass, and the fact of skipping turn 2 and 3 was
only real chance of keeping the third position before the attacks
the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. In this case the telemetry determined
that Verstappen took advantage over his rival and that the Dutch do not
returned the position to his rival the fruit of this distance acquired. By
therefore, Verstappen was penalised with a penalty of five seconds
that cost him the podium.
The third maneuver controversy in the same
point was the touch between Max Verstappen and Nico Rosberg. In this case the
German pilot also turned to the area of grass that binds the three
first turns of the circuit, but the commissioners determined that the
action of Nico Rosberg was the direct result of the touch he had with the Dutch and therefore did not deserve any kind of punishment. Without
however, Verstappen was not punished -or even investigated – for
push your opponent off the track, as happened to Carlos Sainz
in your maneuver at the start with Fernando Alonso.
–