Red Bull Requests Further Communications with FIA about Verstappen/Hamilton Crash

Red Bull Racing have confirmed they have lodged a request to the FIA to take another look at the high-profile crash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s race was over at Copse Corner after being tipped into a spin by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver on the opening lap, with Hamilton taking a ten-second time penalty for his part in the incident.

However, Red Bull do not feel the penalty handed out to Hamilton was justified, and they have asked for further talks with the FIA ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.  The video conference will take place at 4pm CEST on Thursday.

Both Red Bull and Mercedes will be allowed up to three representatives in the meeting, including the team principals.  And whereas Red Bull’s request is not an actual appeal, the FIA could take additional action if new evidence is provided.

Article 14 of the FIA’s International Sporting Code states that: “If, in Competitions forming part of an FIA Championship, cup, trophy, challenge or series, or of an international series, a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned, the stewards who have given a ruling or, failing this, those designated by the FIA, may decide to re-examine their decision following a petition for review…”

The last team to attempt this route were Scuderia Ferrari in the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix as they looked to overturn a five-second time penalty applied to Sebastian Vettel for re-joining the track in a dangerous manner.  However, Ferrari’s evidence was not deemed to be new and as a result, their request for the penalty to be overturned was rejected.