F1 News

Hakkinen: Formula 1 stewards have taken a more open approach

Hakkinen: "Formula 1 stewards have taken a more open approach"

16-07-2019 18:26
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Mika Hakkinen enjoyed the fight between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc during the British Grand Prix. He believes the stewards were more relaxed about their decisions which produced a better spectacle on the Silverstone circuit. 

Several people, including Christian Horner, noted similar observations, but Michael Masi said it was not the case. In his Unibet column, Hakkinen made sure to point out that it was the younger drivers producing the fireworks. 

“The young generation created a feat on Silverstone. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fought for the third place. Once again it was a tough fight, but this time they also gave each other space and respect to race," Hakkinen said. 

“After the controversy, which was accompanied by Sebastian Vettel's penalty in Canada, I feel like Formula 1 stewards have taken a more open approach that allowed drivers to race. At one point, Max went all the way while fighting with Charles, but no penalties followed. They were allowed to race and Charles had learned from the incident in Austria when he was overtaken by Max."

“Max, on the other hand, had every reason to be upset when Vettel hit his Ferrari against him at the famous Stowe turn. I was very surprised that they could both continue afterwards, after which Max secured P5 behind Gasly," said Hakkinen.

Sebastian Vettel picked up a 10-second penalty for his crash with Verstappen. He also had two points applied to his licence. 

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