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Max Verstappen

Verstappen joins calls for investigation into pre-race incident

The Red Bull driver was left unimpressed by a problem that plagued drivers at the start of the race.

Verstappen Leclerc  Las Vegas
Article
To news overview © Red Bull Content Pool

Max Verstappen has joined calls for there to be an investigation into the oil spill which happened before the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz blamed much of the chaos at Turn 1 in which several drivers either spun or lost control in the first few meters of the race on the spill, branding it "unacceptable" and urging the FIA to investigate.

The spill was triggered by the traditional drivers parade vehicles, which featured vintage cars.

The car that brought Lewis Hamilton around the track broke down and spilt oil along the starting grid.

Verstappen: The oil spill was not ideal

Verstappen was starting near the spillage on the grid, and believed it compromised his positioning.

"The oil spill was not ideal," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.

"It was from the classic cars, from the drivers’ parade so that's maybe something that we have to look into because that's a bit of a shame that that happens.

"So I had to steer a bit left of it at the start. And yeah, after that of course we had that little moment."

Verstappen managed to get alongside Charles Leclerc, but out-braked himself into Turn 1 and forced the Ferrari driver wide. This earned him a five-second time penalty from the stewards.

"I explained to Charles what happened and also with the debriefing, I think that's something we do naturally," said Verstappen.

"We did that already back in the day in go-karting and stuff. It's nice, especially when you have a fun race together, everyone, and you had some battles."

F1 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix RN365 News dossier

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