Racing Point furious: And Verstappen "gets nothing for that?"
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Otmar Szafnauer is unhappy about the stewards' decision during Portuguese Grand Prix. According to the Racing Point team boss, the race management committed three errors on Sunday. Sergio Perez shouldn't have been reprimanded, Lance Stroll's time penalty was unjustified and Max Verstappen should have been punished.
"Sergio moved to the right before Gasly started the attack. Gasly had to get off the gas but there was no contact. Why is there a warning," Szafnauer openly wonders in an interview with Auto, Motor und Sport. The Romanian is quite fierce towards the stewards. "Don't the fans want to see good and hard racing? Where does it lead this sport if we now warn our drivers for fair and safe racing?
Perez also received a reprimand on Saturday for hindering Gasly in qualifying. In his career, the Mexican has never received a reprimand, but after the Portuguese weekend, that's not the case. "He stopped Gasly in qualifying, but they both made it to the next lap. No harm was done to anyone. Nevertheless, there was a warning. Now he has to drive like a saint for the rest of the season, he can't counter in the duel to avoid the risk of a starting place penalty," the CEO gives more explanation.
Racing Point wanted to punish Verstappen
Other decisions were also not well received by Szafnauer on Sunday. Stroll was given a five-second time penalty after contacting Lando Norris. "For me, that was just a racing incident," he said. He also believed that Verstappen should have been penalised for his share of the contact made with Perez in the opening lap. "He was off the track, comes back and drives Sergio into the car. And there's nothing for that? There must simply be more constant decisions. I'll bring that up again at the next meeting of the team bosses."