Red Bull appeared to anticipate Max Verstappen’s displeased reaction to his penalty during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and chose a different approach to letting him know about his latest sanction.
Verstappen picked up his fifth penalty for a driving infringement in the last five rounds during Sunday’s race after he knocked Oscar Piastri into a spin immediately after the start at turn one. The stewards ruled on the incident quickly and handed Verstappen a 10-second time penalty on lap five.
Previously, Red Bull haven’t wasted time in keeping Verstappen up to date on any stewards decisions that affect his race, passing on the news as soon as they receive it. But yesterday Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase decided to wait until halfway through the race before letting him know.
Rather than inform Verstappen of his penalty as soon as it was issued, Red Bull chose to tell him immediately before he had to serve it, when he came in for his pit stop. Doing so reduced the amount of time Verstappen had to dwell on his penalty before serving it, though he probably expected to be penalised, and did not ask whether the incident was under investigation:
| Lap: 1/58 VER: 1’39.510 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | I mean I was just super-unlucky. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Mode 10 please Max. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 2/58 VER: 1’54.938 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | I was all the way up the inside before the crash. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Understood, Max. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Virtual Safety Car deployed, Virtual Safety Car deployed, dash positive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | I don’t think this will be too long, Max. Checo’s car is being recovered. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | My delta is completely wrong I think. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Stand by. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 3/58 VER: 1’38.051 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Should reset itself on the control line, let’s have a look. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | I don’t think it’s going to be long now. VSC ending, Max. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | You have B-bal eight when you need it, Max. B-bal eight and then use the toggle when you need it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 6/58 VER: 1’29.412 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Definitely front-locking too much in eight. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 10/58 VER: 1’30.449 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Start six please, Max, strat six. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | First ping for track limits at turn one, Max. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Turn one exit? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Correct. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lap: 13/58 VER: 1’30.178 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Okay so info: Norris, Sainz 29.1. Then Gasly in P3 on a 30.1. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 14/58 VER: 1’30.128 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Ah, front tyres are getting way too hot. I can’t brake. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 16/58 VER: 1’30.047 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Max, have a look at B-bal three, please. B-bal three. That’s rearward tyre pressure peak. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | I’m already in minus one, I should keep that on? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Yeah, initially, for now. Let’s have a look. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 19/58 VER: 1’30.076 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Start three. And engine seven position 10, engine seven position 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Strat four. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 21/58 VER: 1’29.695 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Max can I have a front flap update when you can please? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | At least two clicks more. But it’s really just tyres overheating, that is the main issue. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 28/58 VER: 1’30.274 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | So Max if you could just keep this pace to a high 29 if possible. Looking to slot into a reasonable gap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Fuck’s sake. Locked up. I just can’t brake. Tyres are just too hot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lambiase left it until the last possible moment before telling Verstappen, waiting until he was driving down the pit lane towards his team. He left them in no doubt about his view of the decision, sarcastically asking if they could have a 20-second penalty, as he did in Mexico for a pair of incidents:
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| Lap: 29/58 VER: 1’31.857 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Max, have a look at B-bal two. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | So Max box and pit confirm. Box, pit confirm. Start 12 in pit lane. Max, we have a 10-second penalty, so just bring the car to a stop as quickly as possible. That’s your main focus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 30/58 VER: 1’59.495 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Can we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Verstappen appeared to be treading on thin ice with his reaction. At the previous race last year his team mate Sergio Perez was given an official warning for his reaction to a penalty (which, coincidentally, also involved a McLaren driver).
Perez told his team “the stewards are a joke” after he was given a five-second time penalty. He was penalised as the stewards reminded him: “comments that amount to personal insults are a breach of the International Sporting Code.” Verstappen likely avoided trouble by not naming who he was referring to.
Despite a subdued final race of the season, Verstappen took time to thank his team as he returned to the pits at the end of the race.
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | [Unclear] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah. I mean not the best, fastest race. But just wanted to say a big thank you for this season, guys. It’s not been easy at times. We still have quite a few things to improve on but still won a championship. So thank you very much for all the hard work the whole year, enjoy also a bit of time off and then we’ll get back at it again next year. Thank you, guys. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Thanks very much, Max. And once it wasn’t our day today, you’ve had an epic season. So thanks for that. And yeah, rest, and hard back at it next year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah, exactly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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