Max Verstappen says Lewis Hamilton didn’t follow the guidelines outlined by the FIA in regard to wheel-to-wheel racing on the opening lap of the Australian Grand Prix.
Starting from pole position, Verstappen failed to get a clean jump off the line and was passed by George Russell into Turn 1.
Hamilton then launched an attack up the inside of the Red Bull driver into the following braking zone, with Verstappen pushed wide as Hamilton took second place.
Although Verstappen would go on to finish ahead of both Mercedes drivers in first place, he says that Hamilton didn’t follow the rules on the first lap.
“From my side, I just tried to avoid contact,” he said. “It’s quite clear in the rules what you’re allowed to do now on the outside. Clearly, it’s not followed, but that’s okay.
“But we had good pace. We pass them anyway. But it’s something for the next races to take into account.”
The FIA issued rules of conduct at the start of the 2022 season in order to give clarification to the drivers about what was acceptable on the track.
Regarding overtakes down the inside, the document read: “In order for a car being overtaken to be required to give sufficient room to an overtaking car, the overtaking car needs to have a significant portion of the car alongside the car being overtaken and the overtaking manoeuvre must be done in a safe and controlled manner while enabling the car to clearly remain within the limits of the track.
“When considering what is a ‘significant portion’ for an overtaking on the inside of a corner, among the various factors that will be looked at by the stewards when exercising their discretion, the stewards will consider if the overtaking car’s front tyres are alongside the other car by no later than the apex of the corner.”
Verstappen’s win was far from conventional however, as he was forced to contend with two race restarts for red-flagged incidents.
On both occasions he retained his position, unlike the original start to the grand prix.
However, the Dutchman questioned how necessary some of the red flag decisions were on Sunday.
“I think the pace of the car was quick, you could see that straight away,” he said.
“We were always there waiting for the DRS to open up to have a chance to pass.
“With these red flags, I don’t know, the first one maybe you can do it, but I think that second one I don’t really understand. So it was a bit of a mess.
“But yeah, we survived everything. We had good pace in the car today again and we won, which of course is the most important.”
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