FIA stewards own up: Wrong not to punish Verstappen in Singapore

The FIA stewards officiating at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix believe that in retrospect they should have sanctioned Max Verstappen for impeding another driver in qualifying rather than hand the Dutchman a mere reprimand.

Verstappen was given a warning for hindering AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda – an incident for which the Red Bull pitwall was deemed responsible for its lack of communication – and then handed a second reprimand for holding up a queue of cars in the pitlane.

The decision regarding the case involving Tsunoda baffled many drivers – including the AlphaTauri charger himself – who all felt that Verstappen’s blocking warranted a three-place grid drop, a sanction that, if it had been applied, would have perhaps changed the complexion of the race in the midfield.

Verstappen wasn’t the only driver to be let off the hook, with Williams’ Logan Sargeant also the beneficiary of the officials’ ill-inspired tolerance regarding impeding.

• Read also: Norris frustrated with F1 drivers lack of concern with impeding

The FIA has now admitted that, in hindsight, both Verstappen and Sargeant should have been sanctioned for their actions.

Consequently, both cases have been deleted from the FIA stewards’ database, so they can no longer serve as precedents.

But the topic of consistency remains at the forefront of the long-standing debate on impeding.

“You want to have consistency across the board and it seemed pretty clear-cut with a number of those incidents,” said GPDA director George Russell.

“It was strange that they got away with that one. It didn't really affect any results.

“But it doesn't matter if you're leading the championship or you're last, if you get in somebody's way you should be penalised for it.”

According to a communication conveyed to F1’s team principals in their meeting on Friday at Suzuka by FIA steward Matteo Perini, who officiated in Singapore and who is present again this weekend, a three-place grid penalty will be the norm for impeding.

The FIA’s recognition of its error is commendable, but hopefully it won’t remain as the only step towards insuring consistency and fairness.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter