Stella explains Verstappen's penalty: 'He gained the rights'

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella agrees with the penalty that Max Verstappen recieved during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. According to Stella, Verstappen should have given the position back as McLaren has done in the past.

After being asked how McLaren would have handled it, Stella refers back to a previous situation.

He said, “The situation in corner one was very close in fairness, but you know this is a business of small margins. Thanks to a very good launch off the grid, and thanks to positioning the car on the inside slightly ahead of Max, Oscar managed to keep the car within the track limits and then he gained the rights. "

McLaren followed the rules 

Stella then goes on to mention a race where they gave the position back to avoid receiving a penalty.

He continued, "Obviously, in that situation, you can't overtake off track. So I think the case is very clear. Like we did with Lando in Bahrain — you may remember that we realized we were overtaking Hamilton off the track and even if Hamilton drove us off the track, but once again it's Lewis Hamilton, he knows how to race — we just needed to instruct the driver to give the position back. So I think this is a clear case. "

This article was written in collaboration with Marnik Kok.

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