Some on social media were levelling it at Max Verstappen that he had broken the rules at the second restart at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, but the Dutchman had done nothing wrong.
In three races this season we have seen a lot of chatter around start-line procedures, with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso both falling foul of the rules in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively, where they were adjudged to have not been correctly in their grid box at the start of the race.
Indeed, both received time penalties and, in a bid to try and avoid future incidents, the lines on the grid boxes that the drivers have to line up with have been made bigger, so they can see them out of the cockpits of these huge F1 cars.
Despite that, though, it was being alleged by some that Verstappen was not correctly placed in his grid box for the second restart at the Australian GP, with calls therefore being made that he should receive a penalty as Ocon and Alonso have this year.
However, Verstappen did nothing wrong for the simple reason that though he looked forward and out of his grid box, his front wheels were still touching the painted line.
Had he been past that line he would have received a penalty but there’s visual proof his tyres were making contact with his grid box, and so he escaped any sanction and could go on to complete his race victory.
Speaking about the incident, Max said:
“To be honest I braked a bit late and then I lost my reference a bit.
“Then I looked and saw that I had a bit more space so moved a little bit more forward and it was really on the limit. But on the limit is on the limit, it’s not over the limit.
“The sun was also quite difficult in the end, with the visibility. It was quite tough.”
Another win for Max, then, and with Sergio Perez finishing in fifth after having to charge through the field following his issue in qualifying, he now has a little bit of a cushion in the championship standings.
Azerbaijan is up next, meanwhile, with the race in Baku taking place over the final weekend of April.
