Three top Formula One drivers, including championship leader Max Verstappen, headed to meet with the FIA stewards ahead of qualifying in Monaco.
Two separate incidents during the third and final practice session in Monte Carlo attracted the attention of the stewards, with Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren being summoned.
Max Verstappen summoned for driving too slow
Max Verstappen’s difficult weekend continued on Saturday after a tough Friday in Monte Carlo as Red Bull struggled to make the RB20 comfortable for both drivers.
The Dutch driver was stuck in traffic which meant he didn’t have the luxury of taking a few flying laps, but he probably hid his pace by finishing the race just 0.2 seconds behind pacesetter Charles Leclerc.
However, in the final minute of FP3, after getting caught in traffic on his final flying lap and slowing on track, Verstappen was cited for a suspected breach of Article 33.4 of the FIA F1 Sporting Regulations, for driving unnecessarily slowly on track, which states: “At no time shall a driver drive a car unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in any manner which may be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”
Ahead of qualifying, the stewards made their ruling: Verstappen was given a warning for slow driving.
“After speaking with the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen) and the team principal and considering video, team radio and in-car video evidence, the stewards determined that Car 1 was setting the fastest lap and had to abort the lap due to congestion at Turn 17,” the statement read.
“He was then instructed by his team to take the chequered flag. There was still some time between that and the chequered flag. He also said he saw on the TV screen that there were 20 seconds left until the end of the session. He then left the racing line at the exit of Turn 19 and remained on the far left, well off the racing line, until he took the chequered flag for the session.”
“During that time, he was driving very slowly, at a speed of around 20 kilometres per hour. His behaviour was not dangerous and he was not in the way of other drivers. However, his unnecessarily slow driving on the start-finish straight is in breach of Article 33.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.”
“We are therefore issuing a warning to the driver of vehicle 1 for this offence.”
The FIA stewards for this weekend will be Nish Shetty, Matthew Selley, Derek Warwick and Jean-Francois Callum.
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Lando Norris disciplined over George Russell incident
Separately, George Russell and Lando Norris were summoned under the same provisions of the sport’s regulations, albeit in separate cases.
Norris was on a flying lap exiting the tunnel when he collided heavily on the racing line with the slower Russell, who was emerging into the daylight again, forcing the McLaren driver to suddenly slow down.
Norris expressed his feelings as he pushed Russell over the car, calling all the drivers “idiots” over the radio before meekly saying: “Not all of them, just some of them.”
As the Miami Grand Prix winner slowly returned to the pits after a ruined lap, his engineer replied: “I won’t say which ones are and which ones aren’t.”
It looked as though Russell was going to get into trouble with the stewards, but the FIA stewards decided to punish Norris instead, with the British driver being reprimanded for pushing Russell – his second reprimand this season.
“After hearing from the driver of car 4 (Lando Norris), the driver of car 63 (George Russell) and team representatives, and considering video, team radio and in-car video evidence, the stewards determined that car 4 deliberately moved towards car 63 as it exited the tunnel on the approach to Turn 10 to express dissatisfaction at being affected by the progress of his lap,” he said.
“While the conduct in this instance was not dangerous, such actions can lead to dangerous situations and should be avoided. Therefore, the driver of car number four will be reprimanded.”
Russell finished the session sixth fastest, with Norris in eighth place, just 0.020 seconds separating the two.
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