Karun Chandhok’s ‘question’ for the FIA over Max Verstappen penalty as Red Bull fans ‘very unhappy’

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Max Verstappen lost third place in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint for a virtual safety car infringement. He received a five-second penalty after the race.

Race control deployed the VSC in the closing stages after Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg pulled over due to a car failure. Verstappen was running the third at the time behind the two McLarens.

Oscar Piastri had started on pole position but, as expected, he gave up first place to Lando Norris. Naturally, the Australian lost time by pulling over, and Verstappen hoped to snatch second.

Moments before the track went green, he accelerated sharply and closed right up to the back of Piastri. While he then slowed down, he still hadn’t dipped back under his delta by the time he returned to full racing speed.

The difference was only 0.63 seconds, and Verstappen explained to the stewards that he tried to correct the error. However, offences like this tend to trigger an automatic penalty.

The 27-year-old is facing a five-place grid drop for Sunday’s Grand Prix. That after he took a new internal combustion engine, having already exceeded the maximum allocation.

Karun Chandhok questions VSC timing before Max Verstappen penalty at Brazilian Grand Prix

The world champion was also penalised at the Mexico City Grand Prix last weekend for two incidents with Norris. Team principal Christian Horner accepted the second penalty, while executive director Helmut Marko felt Verstappen deserved 15 seconds rather than 20.

In this instance, though, many Red Bull fans are ‘very unhappy’, according to Sky Sports F1’s Simon Lazenby. They feel that the start and end of the VSC period gave McLaren an unfair advantage.

“If you look online, there are a lot of very unhappy Red Bull and Max Verstappen fans,” Lazenby said. “What they’re saying is, initially it was double-waved yellows, then the McLarens were able to swap.

“It then immediately became a virtual safety car, and then it went green again after the second DRS zone, the last of the DRS zones. That they believe denied Max an opportunity to overtake Oscar.”

Karun Chandhok was sympathetic. He pointed out that Hulkenberg’s car was in an unsafe position for a while before the caution was imposed.

“I think there is a question to be asked of the race director,” he said. “I think there is a question around why did they wait to go to the VSC.

“It was quite clear that Nico Hulkenberg had stopped and he wasn’t going to move behind that barrier into a safe spot. I can understand why there are people who are unsure about the timing of the VSC being called.”

Damon Hill issues ‘joke’ response to Max Verstappen over ‘wrong passport’ claim

Verstappen hinted on Thursday’s media day that he’s subject to unfair treatment. While he can’t really dispute the penalty itself, he may be asking the same ‘question’ as Chandhok.

The three-time world champion told the Dutch media that he had the wrong ‘passport’. 1996 title-winner Damon Hill hoped Verstappen was ‘joking’.

Hill has been one of the leading critics of the Red Bull superstar following the events of Mexico. He feels that Verstappen ‘knows’ his driving is ‘unacceptable’.

It’s unlikely that Saturday’s penalty will hurt his title defence significantly. He still holds a 44-point advantage over Norris.