Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen was summoned to the stewards after sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix for an incident that Lance Stroll branded as “dangerous.”
At the end of the first qualifying phase, Aston Martin driver Stroll encountered Verstappen on the racing line on Miami’s main straight heading into the final hairpin, which led the Canadian to swerve around the Red Bull into the braking zone.
At the time, Stroll slammed the incident as “dangerous” on team radio, and with just one tenth separating him from 15th-placed Liam Lawson he felt it cost him a spot in the next stage.
“We just had traffic the whole way through the lap,” he said afterwards to F1TV. “So, Verstappen just completely in the middle of the track in the last corner. I had to brake on the inside of the track.
“We lost like three or four tenths just there. We’ll see what happens. I hope they investigate it because if we can just all do that and drive on the line, it’s not so fun for the guys on push laps.”
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Verstappen, who ended up qualifying fourth behind shock polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli and both McLaren drivers after ruing slow corner understeer, did indeed get summoned to the stewards for allegedly driving unnecessarily slowly and failing to follow the race director’s instructions.
The FIA’s sporting regulations stipulate that “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.”
The race director’s event notes expand on that to avoid dangerous situations at any point during qualifying, with race control imposing a maximum lap time of 1m45 for the Miami weekend based on practice times.
“In order to ensure that cars are not driven unnecessarily slowly on in laps during and after the end of sprint qualifying, qualifying or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the sprint and the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the safety car lines shown on the pit lane map.
“For the safe and orderly conduct of the event, other than in exceptional circumstances accepted as such by the stewards, any driver that exceeds the maximum time from the second safety car line to the first safety car line on any lap during and after the end of the sprint qualifying, qualifying session, including in-laps and out-laps or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the sprint and the race, may be deemed to be going unnecessarily slowly.”
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