According to various sources, Red Bull is taking legal action against Mercedes regarding the time penalty that Lewis Hamilton received.
The comes after the Brit tapped Max Verstappen and sent him crashing into the barriers, thus ending his race and sending him to the hospital.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and team boss Christian Horner have been adamant: “If you put a driver in hospital and you still win the GP, even with the penalty, it doesn’t feel like a penalty.”
Red Bull has 14 days
At the moment, Red Bull have 14 days to submit a letter of intent for reassessing the situation to the FIA.
If they decide to go ahead with it, they must present their evidence to the stewards who will then decide if the information is new. Only then will the case be reopened.
For now, Verstappen’s chances seem bleak considering the FIA already has a ton of telemetry data and camera footage.
Even if there is a new camera angle released, the chances of it providing significant evidence are small.
In the event that the case is reopened, the chances of the sentence being overturned are minimal.
What penalties can be imposed?
According to the regulations, the following penalties can be imposed by the stewards –
- Time penalties (5 or 10 seconds)
- A drive through penalty (or 20 seconds of time penalty if it is not paid during the race)
- A 10-second stop and go penalty (or 30-second time penalty if it is not met during the race)
- A variable time penalty
- A warning
- Penalty carried over to the next race
- A disqualification
- A suspension of 1 race for the next race
While it is possible to impose a race ban, something that Red Bull will be trying for, there has to be proof of willful action.
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Read More: Sebastian Vettel makes funny sprint qualifying comparison – “I want it to be quick”