FIA race director Michael Masi says he disagrees with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after claims the rules of racing have become unclear following a controversial incident with Max Verstappen in Brazil. Verstappen defended hard against Hamilton in Interlagos as the pair went wheel-to-wheel into Turn 4, before the Dutchman appeared to push the Mercedes driver wide.
Both drivers went off track, with Verstappen remaining in the lead, however, despite noting the incident, the stewards decided against a full investigation.
Mercedes then opted for a right of review, which was denied by the FIA ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Despite team boss Toto Wolff admitting he had expected the outcome, the team hoped it would bring extra clarification as to what was acceptable on track.
Speaking after the driver briefing in Qatar, Hamilton said: “No, it’s not clear, every driver, I think except for Max, were asking for clarity, most drivers were asking for clarity but it wasn’t very clear.
“It’s still not clear what the limits of the track are. It’s clearly not the white line anymore when overtaking.
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“We’ve given them some overall guidance, but also been very clear on the fact that each and every case will be judged on its merits.”
Verstappen sided with the FIA, but admitted “every driver has a different opinion” even though he thought the advice was “pretty clear”.
Speaking in Thursday’s press conference in Qatar, Verstappen added: “Well, I think it’s always to try and align everyone in having the same process in a way you think, like everyone is different and everyone has their own way of racing, defending, overtaking, and of course it is very hard for the FIA to get everyone on the same line.”
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