Montoya: Verstappen didn’t have intention of making Turn 4 in Hamilton incident
By:
Haydn Cobb
Nov 18, 2021, 7:42 AM
Juan Pablo Montoya believes Max Verstappen intentionally ran wide in his Turn 4 clash with Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton and has questioned inconsistencies from the FIA.
Later today, the FIA stewards will hear new evidence over the incident between Verstappen and Hamilton on lap 48 and Turn 4 to judge if it needs to be investigated after the controversial clash wasn’t referred for an stewards’ investigation during the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Mercedes requested a right to review the incident after new evidence came to light, primarily the forward-facing camera footage from Verstappen’s F1 car which was published on Tuesday after the race.
Given the high-profile collisions between the F1 title rivals throughout this season, Mercedes were surprised the incident wasn’t deemed worthy of an investigation, with FIA race director Michael Masi revealing after the race Verstappen’s onboard footage wasn’t checked before ruling out an investigation.
Immediately after the race Verstappen said his worn tyres were the reason why he ran wide at Turn 4.
Speaking on This Week with Will Buxton about the incident, Montoya felt Verstappen was taking the F1 title fight implications into consideration, knowing Hamilton needed to finish ahead of him to strengthen his championship hopes, and that he wasn’t going to make the corner due to how late he braked when fighting Hamilton.
“My honest opinion, the way I think Max looks at it is: if they crash he gains points,” Montoya said. “As long as Lewis doesn't finish ahead of him, he's in a better situation for the championship.
“Lewis was alongside him and cleared him in the braking zone. There was no way as late as he braked he was gonna make the corner. I don't think he had much of an intention of making the corner.
“I don't have anything against Max. I actually really like Max and Red Bull, and they've done an amazing job to bring the fight to Mercedes. But I think they're being surprised of how good Mercedes was.”
Montoya also felt it was inconsistency from the FIA over on-track incidents, pointing to the penalties handed out to Lando Norris and Sergio Perez (twice) during the Austrian GP earlier this season.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mo...ident/6794780/