Stewards will not publish a decision over Mercedes' request for a review into the incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in Brazil until Friday, it has been confirmed. Verstappen and Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel for the lead in last weekend's race at Interlagos, with Verstappen escaping a penalty for his firm defence after the stewards noted the incident but then took no further action. However, after the publishing of onboard camera footage from Verstappen's car , which was hitherto unseen, Mercedes opted to request a right of review .
Stewards set to deliberate overnight
The stewards, along with representatives from Mercedes and Red Bull, met in Qatar at 17:00 local time (14:00 UK time) on Thursday. After a break in proceedings, the meeting resumed at 20:00 local time (17:00 UK time). Following these lengthy discussions, the stewards have stepped away to make a decision, which will not come until Friday. "Following today's hearing with representatives from Mercedes and Red Bull, the stewards are now considering the matter and will publish their decision tomorrow," said an FIA spokesperson.
What possible penalties face Verstappen?
In order to trigger a full review, Mercedes needed to present a significant and relevant new element that wasn't available for consideration by the stewards at the time of the original decision, with the stewards then accepting this new element as relevant to the investigation. Should that be the case, there would be several options available to the stewards, including time and grid penalties . If Verstappen is given a five-second penalty, he would drop from second to third - behind Valtteri Bottas - in the Brazilian GP results, costing him three points. Verstappen currently leads Hamilton by 14 points in the championship standings.
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