Max has been a warning by the FIA about his driving standards:
Italian GP: Max Verstappen given 'gentle warning' by FIA
Its an interesting headline "gentle warning"
Charlie Whiting told Verstappen he risked disqualification or a black and white flag for such behavior in future, that seem more like a stern warning, but maybe he said it in a very quite voice
Reading the press during the week it is interesting to see that some drivers believe Max did nothing wrong while others say he is dangerous. I think the indecent at the first corner was fine but moving "late" to cover someone over-taking while flat-out on the straight, is a very different kettle of fish. Again this state of affairs with some F1 rules is because they are subjective and rulings by the stewards are inconsistent.
Some driver comments on the issue made at Monza this weekend:
"We have seen it for a long time, the penalties they are not very consistent. One race you get one for that and another you don't. I'm sure in the drivers' briefing again there's going to be discussion about that we need more consistency. "I don't know exactly what's allowed and what's not. "It would be nice to have much clearer rules and consistent penalties, but let's see" said Valtteri Bottas.
Carlos Sainz concurred saying "since I have been in F1 consistency of penalties has not been good enough".
Fernando Alonso also admitted that following his contact with Nico Hulkenberg in the pit lane during the Spa race, he was unsure whether he would be penalized or not. "We all agree that steward consistency is poor" he said. "Even in my pitlane exit with Nico [Hulkenberg], we exit side-by-side and touch a little bit, I have no penalty, maybe in the next race I have a penalty. The next couple of laps I didn't know which steward I had this in race! I could be penalized, Nico could be penalized, both could be penalized. That is the problem we have now".
Jenson Button "We all understand that consistency is the most important thing, but it's also very difficult to get that because you're not going to get the same stewards at every race".
Sebastian Vettel "We ended up developing too many regulations, and therefore because taking every scenario as a different one ended up with every scenario being treated different. It's impossible to be 100% consistent in that regard...it would be much better if it was more in our hands".
Is Charlie looking for a new job
According to Auto Bild Charlie was touting himself around at last weekend Spa race looking for a job with one of the F1 teams. The report said that Whiting, 64, held talks with various teams last weekend at Spa. Whiting's Formula One career dates back to when he was a mechanic for Bernie Ecclestone's Brahbam team. He became F1's technical delegate in 1998.
Auto Bild also claims that he became race director in 1997 due to Ron Dennis threatening to pull out of the sport if Whiting joined Flavio Briatore at Benetton
(I don't remember reading that in any F1 biography's, but I still have loads to read)
Monza signs 3 year deal
FOM and Monza have have agreed a deal to keep the Italian race at the circuit for 3 more years, it was announced at a news conference with Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi on Friday. The contract hasn't been signed off yet as Imola are taking legal action the deal. The Italian GP is the oldest race on the F1 calendar and the Monza circuit has held motor racing events since 1921.
Bernie said "Regretfully, legally, we can't sign it here but more important is that we have an agreement thanks to our lawyers and we are getting all the small details sorted. There is no problem in having the race here. The contract will be for three years but I hope we are here for 100 years".
Ferrari have used all their engine tokens
The team have announced that they have used all their allocation in upgrades for this weekends home GP. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen each have a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, energy store and control electronics and it is expected that they will use them for this race, they are part of their season allocation and therefore no penalties are expected.
Sauber has new head of aerodynamics
Nicolas Hennel de Beaupreau has a new job, as head of aerodynamics at Sauber Motorsport AG. Hennel de Beaupreau has had a impressive career with Lotus (2013-2016), Ferrari (2009-2013), McLaren (2006-2009), Renault (2003-2006), Ferrari (2000-2003) and Benetton (1997-2000). Sauber has been recruiting of late as it fights to score a point to retake 10th place from Manor F1 in the Constructors’ Championship.
