F1: Verstappen summoned over impeding Magnussen – Cleared! (Update)

Max Verstappen has kept his pole position for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix following an investigation into alleged impeding.

After looking into the matter, and speaking to both drivers, the stewards decided that no further action was necessary.

It was felt that Verstappen had done as much as he could to get out of the way, while Magnussen’s run through Turn 1 had been far from ideal.

In a short statement, the stewards said: “The driver of Car 1 stated that he saw a car approaching after he crossed the line at the end of his push lap and moved to the left of the track after the exit of Turn 1.

“The driver of Car 20 [Magnussen] stated that he had to move to the right to avoid Car 1 and hence lost time on his fast lap.

“The Stewards determined from the video (and audio) evidence that Car 20 had clipped the curb in Turn 1 and that this subsequently caused a slight change in acceleration which in turn resulted in a slightly slower time on the next mini sectors.

“The Stewards further determined that Car 20 did not have to take significant evasive action.”

Max Verstappen has been summoned to see the stewards at the Austrian Grand Prix for allegedly impeding Kevin Magnussen in Q1 of qualifying.

According to a short statement issued by the FIA, Verstappen is alleged to have held up the Haas driver at Turn 1 during the first segment of qualifying.

Although he lost time as he had to maneuver his way around the Red Bull, Magnussen’s lap was later deleted anyway for a track limits infringement.

“It’s all so tight at the moment. I had traffic with Verstappen at Turn 1 on the first lap of my final run, but that lap was deleted for track limits – it wouldn’t have counted anyway.

“Then on my second attempt I had a downshift fault, it wouldn’t downshift, so it cost me a little bit of time at Turn 3 as I was in the wrong gear.

“When it’s this tight, in fact it’s unbelievably tight – a little issue like that is very costly. Normally you can get away with something like this, but we were just on the wrong end of it today.”