Four-time reigning Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen investigated for impeding during Miami GP Sprint Qualifying as Red Bull gets reprimand for delta time error.
The Dutch driver who had just returned to the paddock after the birth of his first child faced an official investigation for allegedly impeding Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll during the crucial opening phase of the sprint shootout.
The incident which unfolded on a tense Friday evening at the Miami International Autodrome has sparked heated debate among fans, pundits, and drivers, and cast a spotlight on both Verstappen’s driving and the regulatory framework governing F1 qualifying sessions.
The controversy began in SQ1, the first segment of Miami GP Sprint Qualifying when Stroll who attempting to secure a spot in the next round, encountered Verstappen’s Red Bull on the racing line as he barreled down the main straight into the final hairpin.
Stroll was forced to swerve left just before the braking zone, taking a compromised line through the corner that cost him valuable tenths of a second.
The Canadian, clearly frustrated, voiced his anger over team radio, branding Verstappen’s actions as “so dangerous” and lamenting the lost opportunity to advance further in the session.
Stroll ultimately missed out on SQ2 by a narrow margin finishing P16 while Verstappen progressed comfortably.
Stroll’s post-session comments echoed his frustration. He explained that the encounter with Verstappen had cost him three to four tenths of a second, a significant deficit in the tightly contested world of F1 qualifying.
“We just had traffic the whole way through the lap, so I had Verstappen just completely in the middle of the track in the last corner, so I had to brake on the inside of the track and we lost like three or four tenths just there,” Stroll told media after the session.
He further requested to have Verstappen investigated arguing that allowing such incidents to go unpunished would set a dangerous precedent for qualifying etiquette.
The stewards responded swiftly, summoning Verstappen and a Red Bull representative to explain the incident which was classified as an alleged breach of Article 33.4 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations and Article 12.2.1 i) of the FIA International Sporting Code.
These rules prohibit driving “unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”
The regulations are designed to prevent precisely the kind of scenario that unfolded between Verstappen and Stroll where a driver on a slow lap impedes a rival on a flying lap, potentially affecting the outcome of qualifying.
Red Bull reprimanded for delta time error
The investigation into Verstappen’s conduct was further complicated by the introduction of a maximum lap time for the Miami weekend, set at 1 minute 45 seconds, to prevent drivers from dawdling on outlaps and creating dangerous speed differentials.
According to the stewards’ findings, Verstappen was approximately six seconds above the required minimum time between the safety car lines for one lap in SQ2.
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Red Bull explained that this was due to a programming mishap on Verstappen’s dashboard which resulted to delta time error. As a result Verstappen believed he was within the permitted window when in fact he was exceeding it by a significant margin.
Telemetry data supported Red Bull’s explanation showing that Verstappen maintained a consistent speed throughout the lap and did not make any erratic maneuvers.
The stewards acknowledged that while there had been a breach of the regulations, Verstappen did not drive “unnecessarily slowly” based on the information available to him and did not create a dangerous situation for other competitors.
The responsibility, they concluded, lay with the team for failing to provide accurate timing information. As a result Red Bull received a formal reprimand but Verstappen himself escaped a grid penalty and retained his fourth-place starting position for the sprint race
