Why the stewards decided not to penalise Verstappen for Hamilton incident
Max Verstappen had to report to the stewards after the Hungarian Grand Prix due to an incident with Lewis Hamilton. The stewards judged that the Red Bull Racing driver was not to blame and therefore did not punish him. Here's why.
Why Verstappen was not punished by the stewards
Around lap 30, Verstappen made a daring overtaking manoeuvre on Hamilton on the outside of turn 4, a fast left turn. Hamilton went wide and off the track, possibly preventing a collision. The incident was recorded and later officially investigated by the stewards. They have now judged that Verstappen was not at fault in the incident.
In the associated document, the stewards explained how their assessment was made. Verstappen said he had fresher tires and wanted to use that momentum to make his overtaking move. He also stated that he would have left Hamilton enough space at the exit of the corner, but he decided to use the whole track because the Brit had already gone off the track.
Hamilton, who waived his right to explain his side of the story and thus was not present at the conversation, seems to have agreed with this. A representative of Ferrari confirmed that there was no contact between the cars and that Hamilton made the choice to not attempt to stay on the track. The stewards took this into account in their judgment, after which they decided to not impose a penalty on Verstappen.
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