Verstappen protest deferred until United States GP

A hearing for Mercedes' protest over Max Verstappen's driving in the Japanese Grand Prix has been deferred until the United States Grand Prix.

After Lewis Hamilton failed to pass Verstappen on the penultimate lap at Suzuka, Mercedes protested the result of the race as it felt the Red Bull youngster "drove erratically and in a dangerous manner, forcing car 44 to take evasive action at Turn 16".

However, while the stewards opened an investigation into the incident, neither driver was still at the track to be able to give their version of events, leading to the hearing being deferred.

"The Stewards convened a hearing of the Protest lodged by Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team against the driver of Car 33, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing," the stewards document read.

"The protest was lodged in accordance with Article 13.4.4 of the International Sporting Code.

"At the commencement of the hearing the Stewards noted that neither driver was in attendance and hence was unable to give or refute any evidence.

"After hearing initial comments by representatives of Mercedes, the Stewards decide that in order to ensure fairness and afford both drivers the opportunity to be heard, the matter should be deferred and in accordance with Article 11.9.2.s of the International Sporting Code, the Stewards delegate their authority to the Stewards of the 2016 United States Formula One Grand Prix. Both team representatives agreed to this."

The United States Grand Prix takes place in Austin from 21-23 October. The result of the Japanese Grand Prix therefore will remain provisional for the next two weeks.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.