While race stewards denied Mercedes the right to review Verstappen’s defensive actions in Interlagos, McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl believes that a more critical moment will come in the drivers’ briefing on Friday evening.
He thinks that given the inconsistency between the FIA’s openness on the Verstappen incident and the penalty for Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix for pushing Sergio Perez far, drivers will seek clarity on what is now allowed and what is not .
And since Seidl is particularly confused about why Verstappen’s behavior was approved, but Norris wasn’t, he sees Masi’s feedback as important in setting a precedent.
“If we look at the comparison with Lando’s case, we definitely have some questions,” said Seidl at the Qatar Grand Prix.
“Lando got a penalty in Austria for something that was controversial from our point of view. You can definitely argue that what happened in Austria was Lando’s corner.
“It was different from what we saw in Brazil and that’s why we’re very interested, not necessarily today’s judgment or today’s investigation, because that’s a different process, but more understanding of what Michael is tonight We tell the drivers how they see things in the driver briefing.
“I think whatever the result will definitely change the way drivers approach certain maneuvers on the track, so this is interesting to clarify.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
While Masi says the FIA adopted the “Let them race” principle in deciding not to investigate the Verstappen incident in Brazil, Seidl says he was unaware of the attitude towards sanctioning the Driving behavior had changed.
“So it will be very interesting what the drivers will hear from Michael in the drivers briefing tonight,” he added.
“I think compared to before and a few years ago we have definitely switched to racing them more.
“But even here, if you know how difficult it is to judge all the different cases, the punishment Lando received in Austria, for example, and what we saw last weekend, is clearly inconsistent.
“That’s why I think it’s just important to clarify that every driver knows what they can and cannot do.”
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