Verstappen keeps Austrian GP victory
Max Verstappen has kept his Austrian Grand Prix victory after stewards deemed no further action was needed following his incident with Charles Leclerc.
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images
Red Bull driver Verstappen and Ferrari's Leclerc engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle for victory in the closing laps of the race.
They bumped wheels at the Turn 3 right-hander at the top of the hill with three laps remaining, after Verstappen dived inside Leclerc and gave his rival no room on the outside.
The incident was investigated after the race, but Verstappen has kept victory as stewards deemed it a racing incident.
The stewards' explanation read: "Car 33 [Verstappen] sought to overtake car 16 [Leclerc] at Turn 3 on lap 69 by out-braking car 16.
"When doing so, car 33 was alongside car 16 on the entry of the corner and was in full control of the car while attempting the overtaking move on the inside of car 16.
"However, both car 33 and car 16 proceeded to negotiate the corner alongside each other but there was clearly insufficient space for both cars to do so.
"Shortly after the late apex, while exiting the corner, there was contact between the two cars. In the totality of the circumstances, we did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident.
"We consider that this is a racing incident."
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