Austrian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen investigation splits F1 paddock as race winner says he would ‘stay at home’ if he was punished

Verstappen was eventually cleared of wrongdoing in an FIA investigation after making contact with Leclerc in his move to take the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen’s race-deciding move on Charles Leclerc split the F1 paddock on whether the Red Bull star deserved a penalty for forcing the Ferrari off the track or not, with Christian Horner claiming that stripping his driver of Austrian Grand Prix victory would have been “stealing from Formula One”.

The 21-year-old mounted a brilliant comeback drive after a poor start dropped him from second to eighth, resulting in Verstappen and Leclerc duelling for the lead in the final few laps at the Red Bull Ring.

In front of thousands of travelling Dutch fans and at Red Bull’s home Grand Prix, Verstappen fought his way past with two laps remaining at turn two. But as Leclerc attempted to defend his position, Verstappen drifted wide and collided with Leclerc’s front-right wheel, causing the Ferrari to run off the track.

Verstappen went on to take victory and celebrate emphatically even in the knowledge that the investigation was ongoing, with the Dutchman summoned to the stewards’ office at 5pm BST, before being later cleared of wrongdoing.

The FIA said: "[We] did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. We consider that this is a racing incident."

Verstappen had already had his say publicly, claiming that if he is punished for the overtake that he believes was fair he should “just stay at home”.

"It's hard racing,” Verstappen said. “If those things are not allowed in racing then what's the point in being in Formula One."

But Leclerc was far from happy with the move, which came a lap after he was able to successfully defend against a similar move from Verstappen when he was left room on the outside of the exit.

"I don’t know... I'm angry, obviously,” Leclerc said. “Feeling it from the inside, it was an unfair move but I need to watch it from the outside to understand the full situation. On the first try he left me a car's width and on the second move he didn’t, so we’ll see.”

Watch the incident below...

The incident split opinions in the paddock, with former F1 drivers Timo Glock and Marcus Ericsson both believing that Verstappen could and possibly should have left Leclerc more room, while the likes of Martin Brundle and Damon Hill both labelled it fair racing, arguing that Leclerc should have conceded the corner as there was no coming back from Verstappen’s move.

Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who finished fourth with a last-lap move on Lewis Hamilton, sided with Verstappen, though the four-time world champion still holds the painful memories of having the Canadian Grand Prix victory ripped from his grasp after receiving a stewards penalty.

“What do you think I will say now?” Vettel said when asked if it’s right that stewards are deciding races. “Of course not, I haven't seen what happened so if it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair. But I don’t like that it's passed on to someone sat in a chair, we’re not fighting for the Kindergartens' Cup, they should leave us alone."

Verstappen’s team principal Horner was far more forthright in his verdict though, claiming that the stewards and FIA cannot punish Verstappen without hurting the sport’s image.

Verstappen is under investigation after making contact with Leclerc (AFP/Getty) (Getty)

"I think he gave him enough room, Leclerc comes in aggressively - what are you supposed to do?” said Horner. “These are two guys of the future and if they take this victory away from Max that's stealing from Formula One - we need drivers going wheel-to-wheel and fighting with each other.

"The stewards haven't made a decision yet they want to hear from both of the drivers, but to change the podium around, that would be a massive decision."

His Ferrari counterpart, Mattia Binotto, unsurprisingly disagreed though he did concede that in his opinion Verstappen’s move was fair and should not be penalised – but that under the current regulations the stewards had no other choice.

"We are confident of the result, it's a shame for the podium but we think the stewards will change it,” Binotto said.

Verstappen was confident he would escape any punishment (Getty) (Getty Images)

"I agree it's not right, but it's the rules and regulations that we should change in the future. But this is now. The rules are clear. It's a matter of causing a collision and forcing a driver off track. We trust the stewards."

If stewards had found Verstappen guilty of forcing Leclerc off the track, he could have faced a five-second time penalty added on to his total race time, which would have handed victory to the Monogasque after he finished 3.744s behind.

But instead Verstappen retained his win to leapfrog Vettel into third in the championship standings.