The stewards have been busy so far this weekend, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and now Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri having all flouted the same Japanese Grand Prix rule
Max Verstappen has avoided a penalty after he was found guilty of ignoring a clear instruction from the Formula 1 race director at the Japanese Grand Prix. He broke the same rule as Lewis Hamilton did and, like the Brit, he got away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
In his pre-event notes, F1 race director Rui Marques made it clear that “cars in either the fast lane or working lane [of the pit lane] may not overtake other cars in the fast lane except in exceptional circumstances”. But both Hamilton and Lance Stroll fell foul of that rule during Friday practice.
And there were two more rule-breakers in FP3 on Saturday morning. Verstappen was hauled in front of the stewards, as was Oscar Piastri – both found to have failed to follow that instruction from Marques.
In an official FIA decision document, the stewards confirmed that both Verstappen and Piastri “overtook several cars in the fast lane whilst traversing the working lane to the practice start area” during that final practice session of the weekend.
The official warnings given to Hamilton and Stroll the previous day provided a clear precedent in terms of the likely punishment. And it was soon announced that both Verstappen and Piastri would also not face any financial or sporting penalties.
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Regarding Verstappen’s infringement, the stewards said: “Car 1 [Verstappen] overtook a significant number of cars whilst traversing the working lane en route to the practice start area, after having momentarily been in the fast lane. The stewards note that the driver of Car 1 did perform a genuine practice start and rejoined after all cars in the fast lane had passed.”
And in Piastri’s case they added: “Car 81 [Piastri] overtook several cars whilst remaining in the working lane however it was noted that a review of video from Car 4 (Lando Norris) showed that due to the location of the McLaren garage, it was logical to drive directly from the garage to the practice start area.
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“The stewards also note that the driver of Car 81 did in fact perform a genuine practice start and tried to rejoin in the position he would have been in, had he been in the fast lane.”
While the Hamilton and Stroll cases were used as precedents this time, there is no guarantee that they will continues to act as such in the future. The stewards also made that clear as they noted that multiple drivers had ignored the rule over the course of the Suzuka race weekend.
They confirmed: “In relation to the general subject of overtaking in the pit lane, the fact that a warning was issued for the four cases this weekend is not to be taken as a precedent and the stewards note that future breaches of pit lane procedures may involve a sporting penalty.”
