Verstappen-Hamilton incident verdict due today

Max Verstappen

Verstappen is awaiting the verdict of the FIA hearing today, which could hit him with a time penalty for the Brazilian Grand Prix or punish him for this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix

The FIA released a statement yesterday confirming that the hearing into the lap 48 incident between Hamilton and Verstappen at the Brazilian Grand Prix has taken place, and that a verdict will be issued today ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.

Verstappen, if found in breach of rules, could be hit with either a time penalty for his race in Sao Paulo, with five seconds enough to knock him down to third and further reduce the gap to Hamilton, which is currently 14 points in the drivers’ standings, or else a grid penalty for the upcoming race in Qatar.

Verstappen said he is not worried about a retrospective time penalty that would cost him points. “I don’t even think about that,” he said. “Also – if if if. I mean, it’s not the end of the world. But again, I don’t expect that to happen because I thought it was fair, hard racing between the two guys who are fighting for the championship. So it wouldn’t have been anyway an easy pass, because that’s not how I am and I don’t think how it should be when you’re fighting for the title.”