Max hits out at ‘completely wrong’ Ferrari penalty

Max Verstappen feels it was “completely wrong” for Ferrari to only receive a monentary penalty for an unsafe release in Germany, with the FIA agreeing with the driver.

During a chaotic race at a wet Hockenheimring, Ferrari released Charles Leclerc into Romain Grosjean’s path.

The Haas driver was forced to brake a collision.

It was a textbook case of unsafe release but rather than penalise the driver with a time penalty, the stewards slapped Ferrari with a €5,000 fine.

Verstappen, who lost a podium in Monaco due to an unsafe release time penalty, isn’t impressed.

“It’s completely wrong,” Verstappen told Motorsportweek.com.

“If you get a fine, everybody will do it. I think it’s not fair.

“To say they gave me the penalty purely because we touched, I think that is also not fair, you’re still releasing the car knowing there is a car in the fast lane.”

F1 race director Michael Masi met with the team bosses ahead of the Hungarian GP where, according to reports, they unanimously agreed that a monetary fine is not enough.

From now on an unsafe release with always come with a time penalty.

Verstappen added: “I think they have spoken in the managers meeting about it. Let’s see what they are going to do about it now.

“How big was the fine? 5,000? That’s peanuts for a team. They really don’t care to pay that.

“I think it’s completely wrong to do that, especially if you talk about safety, it’s not correct.”

Follow us on Twitter @Planet_F1 and like our Facebook page.