|
Red Bull's Verstappen was told to hand back the
lead to seven-times world champion Hamilton four laps from the
finish of a nail-biting race after he ran wide while overtaking
the Mercedes.
Television images showed Hamilton had previously crossed the
limits at the same turn four on numerous occasions before his
pitwall engineer passed on a warning from race control to stop
doing it.
The topic became a talking point after the race.
Masi said the two situations were "quite different" and nothing
had changed during the race.
He said Verstappen had breached sporting regulations that always
apply by "gaining a lasting advantage by overtaking another car
off the racetrack".
Masi confirmed also that he had instructed Red Bull to
relinquish the position.
The race director also issues notes for drivers specific to each
race and in Bahrain they said the track limits would be
monitored at turn four during the race only in relation to
gaining an advantage.
Hamilton was therefore warned only once it became apparent how
often he was going wide.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told reporters the messages needed
to be clear and consistent.
"At the beginning of the race it was said track limits in turn
four wouldn't be sanctioned. Then in the race suddenly we heard
that if you would continue to run wide it would be seen as an
advantage and it could cause a potential penalty," he said.
"At the end that decision actually made us win the race," added
the Austrian.
"Max ran wide in the definition of the race director, gaining an
advantage, had to give back the position and that saved our
victory."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian
Radnedge)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
