F1 stewards punish Red Bull as Max Verstappen breaks rule at Italian Grand Prix

01 September 2023 , 17:38

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F1 stewards punish Red Bull as Max Verstappen breaks rule at Italian Grand Prix

Red Bull were slapped with a fine after Max Verstappen was caught speeding in the Monza pit lane.

The usual limit of 80kph was enforced during practice on Friday with all drivers made aware prior to any race weekend. But sensors clocked Verstappen travelling at 84.8kph during the second practice session of the day.

The stewards always have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to those who flout that particular rule and made no exception for the world champion. As a result, his Red Bull team was fined £428 – in-keeping with the £84.60 per kph system used when it comes to deciding how big a fine should be.

Verstappen was only slightly over the limit and so will face no sporting penalty for the infraction. He was also saved from a more severe punishment by the race it occurred in practice, and so there was no advantage to be gained.

Overall, it was not a particularly smooth session for the Dutchman. He topped the timesheets in the first session of the day, but could only go fifth fastest in FP2 as he tested out different set-up options.

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"We've been trying a few different wing levels and I think we still need to analyse a bit what way to go," he said after the session. "It's sometimes a bit of a tricky thing around Monza. From my side, it probably could have been a little bit better.

"So, [we're] still fine-tuning a bit the low-speed to the high-speed, but I'm quite confident, of course, that we'll get there. Also, I was a bit interrupted in FP2 to get a proper read on a few things, [so there's] still a bit of work to do."

One of those interruptions he referred to was the moment Sergio Perez spun at the final corner and beached his Red Bull in the gravel. He caused some damage to his car in the process and left team boss Christian Horner looking unimpressed, but the Mexican played down the consequences of the incident.

He said: "I understeered off at the exit and tried to keep it nailed. I thought I had it under control but then I touched a little bit the gravel and that was game over. It doesn't look too bad, the damage – it was fairly small, and I don't think we lost anything there at the end, two laps, so nothing representative in that regard."

Daniel Moxon