Monza vs Silverstone: 'Then it would have been a race time penalty'

According to race direction Max Verstappen made a mistake by driving Lewis Hamilton off the track on Sunday afternoon. The Dutchman received a grid penalty of three places for the Russian Grand Prix.

At the UK GP, Hamilton received another time penalty during the race when he caused Verstappen to crash into the tyre pile at full speed. Critics argue that the penalties for both incidents are disproportionate, but Michael Masi looks at the situation differently.

Monza versus Silverstone

The race director states in conversation with Motorsport.com that the teams have agreed on the current penalty levels. "It depends if they could have continued their way, then it would have been a race time penalty. However, in this case, they both couldn't continue. You can't compare it to Silverstone at all. Here you have two cars dropping out due to the same incident, where there one car dropped out in a completely different incident."

"In this case, no more penalties could be imposed during the race, so then a grid penalty follows. That's what we agreed with the teams when someone can't continue their way."