Max Verstappen has called for an investigation into a pre-race oil spillage at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which ended up playing a part in the opening corner chaos.
As per usual for any Grand Prix, the drivers were all taken around the circuit ahead of the race in vintage classic cars.
However, on this occasion, the car which Lewis Hamilton was taken around the circuit in, spilled oil on the relatively short start/finish straight.
This was immediately clocked by the marshals, who quickly got about trying to solve the problem.
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The oil spill was right by Verstappen’s P2 grid slot, with him admitting after the race that he had to position his car differently to avoid the mess.
He was forced to “steer a bit left” to ensure that he didn’t drive across the oil patch, impacting his line into the first corner where he collided with Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen believes this needs to be looked into for future events, as it was “not ideal” and a “bit of a shame”.
“The oil spill was not ideal,” Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.com.
“It was from the classic cars, from the drivers’ parade so that’s maybe something that we have to look into because that’s a bit of a shame that that happens.
“So I had to steer a bit left of it at the start. And yeah, after that of course we had that little moment.”
At the opening corner, Verstappen had no grip when trying to dive up the inside of Leclerc for first place.
The three-time World Champion forced himself and Leclerc off the circuit due to the lack of grip but gained the race lead, resulting in a five-second time penalty.
Leclerc was frustrated by Verstappen’s antics; however, not even the time penalty could stop the Red Bull driver from winning for an 18th time this season.
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Verstappen addressed the collision and his late-race battle with Leclerc after he secured victory, with him admitting that it was similar to their go-karting days.
“I explained to Charles what happened and also with the debriefing, I think that’s something we do naturally,” added Verstappen.
“We did that already back in the day in go-karting and stuff. It’s nice, especially when you have a fun race together, everyone, and you had some battles.”