Wolff: Clarity needed over Verstappen's 'hard racing'

Toto Wolff has explained one of the reasons why Mercedes protested Max Verstappen's driving during the Japanese Grand Prix.

Following the race, Mercedes protested the result at Suzuka after Lewis Hamilton went wide when Verstappen made a late move to defend the inside line at the chicane on the penultimate lap. The FIA stewards document said Verstappen "allegedly drove erratically and in a dangerous manner, forcing car 44 to take evasive action at turn 16".

Mercedes later opted to withdraw the protest as neither driver was present at the circuit to speak to the stewards - and Hamilton said the protest is "not what we do" - but speaking before the protest was confirmed by the FIA, Wolff said clarity is needed over what is permitted when defending.

"I’m biased obviously, and you will be surprised by my response, at heart I’m a racer and I love hard racing, and he’s refreshing," Wolff said when asked for his thoughts on Verstappen's defending.

"He defends very hard, the rule book says something else. The rule book says you can’t move under braking, but it hasn’t been penalised until now, so I think we just need to know what is permitted or not. Again, from my perspective, hard racing is OK."

There is not specifically a rule against moving under braking, but Article 27.5 - which Mercedes originally protested under - states: "At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person."