Max Verstappen Faces Investigation for Allegedly Slowing Down Unnecessarily

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen found himself in hot water after an incident with Lance Stroll during the sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix. Stroll, driving for Aston Martin, accused Verstappen of driving dangerously on the racing line on Miami’s main straight, leading to a swerve and a potential loss of position for Stroll.

The Incident and Its Impact on Qualifying

In the final phase of qualifying, Stroll found himself just one tenth away from 15th-placed Liam Lawson, feeling that Verstappen’s actions cost him a spot in the next stage. “We had traffic the whole way through the lap,” he said afterwards to F1TV. “So, Verstappen was right in the middle of the track in the last corner. I had to brake on the inside of the track.” The incident reportedly cost Stroll three or four tenths of a second.

Verstappen, who ultimately qualified fourth behind shock polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli and both McLaren drivers, was indeed summoned to the stewards for allegedly driving unnecessarily slowly and failing to follow the race director’s instructions.

The FIA’s Regulations on Driving Behavior

According to the FIA’s sporting regulations, “at no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.” The race director’s event notes further clarify that dangerous situations should be avoided at any point during qualifying, with race control imposing a maximum lap time of 1m45 for the Miami weekend based on practice times.

To prevent cars from being driven unnecessarily slowly during and after the end of sprint qualifying, qualifying sessions, or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the sprint and the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the safety car lines shown on the pit lane map.

For the safe and orderly conduct of the event, any driver who exceeds the maximum time from the second safety car line to the first safety car line on any lap during and after the end of the sprint qualifying, qualifying session, including in-laps and out-laps or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the sprint and the race, may be deemed to be going unnecessarily slowly.

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