Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has said Max Verstappen’s on-track conduct and wheel-to-wheel racing in Saudi Arabia needs to be reviewed.
The Dutchman battled with Championship rival Sir Lewis Hamilton throughout the action-packed grand prix, with the Brit ultimately triumphing in Jeddah.
There were several flashpoints between Hamilton and Verstappen, including a number of questionable defensive manoeuvres by the Red Bull driver and the pair making contact after the Dutchman slowed down to let Hamilton overtake him (after being instructed to do so by the FIA and his team.)
Speaking after the race, the seven-time World Champion branded Verstappen’s driving as “over the limit.”
Wolff echoed Hamilton’s sentiment, saying that the FIA needs to have another look at Verstappen’s controversial driving.
“I don’t think this is yet done. The result at the end, winning the race, I think he [Hamilton] deserved it,” the Mercedes team principal and co-owner said.
“He could have been out a few times with a broken front wing [after he drove into the back of Verstappen].”
READ: ‘The real Toto has shown himself’: Jos Verstappen says Max won’t join Mercedes anytime soon
Continuing, Wolff said the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was “spectacular but not a good race.”
“I don’t want to have dirty laundry in here, but that was spectacular but not a good race.
“It’s the driving that needs to be assessed and looked at. It’s very hard, maybe over-the-line hard.
“We just want to have a clean championship, may the best man win and if it’s Max at the end then I have peace with that. But it just needs to be fair.”
With Hamilton taking victory in Jeddah and also bagging the fastest lap of the grand prix, he and Verstappen will go into the season finale in Abu Dhabi level on points.
The Dutchman dominated last year’s race in the UAE capital, but the track will be significantly different this campaign as its layout has been changed to promote overtaking, so there’s no guarantee Red Bull will have the edge this time around.
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