Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Monaco, 2022

Perez keeps win, Verstappen stays third as stewards reject Ferrari protest

2022 Monaco Grand Prix

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Sergio Perez has kept his victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, and team mate Max Verstappen his third place, after the stewards Ferrari’s protest against the pair.

Ferrari alleged both drivers had violated the rules by crossing the pit lane exit line during the race.

However following lengthy deliberations, the stewards deemed both drivers had complied with the requirement not to cross the yellow line dividing the pit lane exit and track.

In the case of Perez, the stewards ruled no part of his tyres came in contact with the asphalt to the left of the line, and he was therefore in compliance with the rules.

Verstappen’s tyres were found to have partially crossed the line. The stewards said both teams agreed “part of its front left and rear left tyre [were] on the left side of the yellow line”.

However they also agreed “most of the left front and left rear tyres of that car remained on the yellow line.”

They therefore deemed that in Verstappen’s case “the car did not ‘cross’ the line – to do so it would have needed to have a full wheel to the left of the yellow line.” As a result he was also found to have complied with the rules and, like Perez, the protest against him was dismissed.

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2022 Monaco Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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44 comments on “Perez keeps win, Verstappen stays third as stewards reject Ferrari protest”

  1. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
    29th May 2022, 20:46

    In this case, the car did not “cross” the line – to do so it would have needed to have a full wheel to
    the left of the yellow line

    People here in the comment section should get some reading lessons. Being on the line doesn’t mean crossing. But hey, the ‘experts’ in their chairs obviously know better than the stewards with tons of EXTRA footage. :clowns:

    1. As usual, cutting the part that suits ur argument, the same document states that part of the front snd rear left tires crossed the yellow line actually, and similar incidents were penalized. The problem is not with the wording, it wouldn’t have been fair to penalize them now especially that Ferrari didn’t even protest while the race was ongoing, but the problem lays with the FIA inconsistencies again!

      1. The only bad call I saw today was the abysmal penalty on Ocon, you know… The one where Hamilton dive bombs and touches Ocon

        1. @ajpennypacker I don’t think the penalty was for the bit of contact when Lewis tried to go up the inside of T1 as there was apparently a second incident where Lewis got squeezed into the wall.

          1. RandomMallard
            29th May 2022, 21:28

            @stefmeister Looking at the decision document, it was for the T1 contact with Lewis going up the inside. What’s interesting is that is probably sets a precedent for what “alongside” means under the new 2022 Driving Standards (which are officially referenced in the decision). The full decision:

            The Stewards reviewed the video evidence and noted that on approach to Turn 1 there was a significant portion of Car 44 alongside Car 31 and therefore applying the 2022 Driving Standards Guidelines, Car 44 was entitled to racing room in Turn 1.

          2. @randomMallard that’s a good shout. I’ve never been a fan of drivers turning in on others — they need to leave room. Hopefully this decision settles that.

    2. Cringe. This ain’t Facebook, take your toxic comments there.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        29th May 2022, 20:58

        @jazz – And yet when we have toxic, childish comments towards Verstappen, you post to back them up…. Strange that huh?

        1. @petebaldwin yup! I ain’t the one supporting a violent, foul-mouthed, ill-mannered, uncultured bully though. Says more about your character that you’d jump to defend someone like that.

          1. petebaldwin (@)
            29th May 2022, 23:32

            What was that about toxic comments that belong on Facebook? :D

          2. @petebaldwin Don’t mind @jazz. He’s just some contradictory 12yr old with overinflated opinions

          3. Steveetienne
            30th May 2022, 9:12

            On the contrary it speaks volumes about yours judging a human being that you’ve never met and know nothing about apart from what you see & hear on television during a highly charged adrenaline fuelled competitive environment.

    3. In my opinion, Both Redbulls were in the wrong, but that doesn’t matter anymore: The referees didn’t act during the game, for whatever reason, while they were aware, so the result should stand.
      Maybe they saw data which led them to believe the intent to comply was there, and there was no notable advantage taken? Maybe the line or the visual markers aren’t visible in the wet, seated in the car? Did all other cars comply with the rule, or were others also caught, without being seen by us?

  2. Derek Warwick from the Honda payroll again. This man should never be allowed anywhere near the track again. Let alone an official position.

    1. The rules for F1 in 2022 were amended and Ferrari pointed to the old text that was erroneously in the notes handed out for the 2022 Monaco GP. However the directors notes CANNOT overrule the rules of F1. So the actual rule that was applicable here wasn’t breached. Had nothing to do with Warrick.

  3. Oh! I am SO surprised! What an unexpected occurrence!

  4. I’m happy that they kept the result — it would have been pretty bitter for Perez. Having watched the onboards from the two drivers (and from the following Ferraris) earlier, it looked marginal. Both put the power down at the end of the line, the back stepped out a little, and it looked like the lefts could have crossed the line (certainly the rears, and definitely moreso in the case of Verstappen).

    However… the Race Director’s notes actually say:

    drivers must keep to the right of
    the solid yellow line at the pit exit when leaving the pits and stay to the right of this line until it finishes
    after Turn 1

    You could certainly argue that being on the line is not keeping to the right of it… 🤔

    Anyway, yet another lesson to be (hopefully) learned in unambiguously formulating the rules.

    1. @orrc There has been plenty of occasions in the past where a driver has had a wheel (Or 2) on the line but not gone over it resulting in no further action as the understanding going back to them first introducing the rule in 2001 has always been that as long as no part of the tyre goes beyond the line then it’s fine.

      1. I understand that for track limits, but I was intrigued by the very specific wording of the race director’s notes here :)

        But it turns out the overriding rule is the International Sporting Code — and the decision document says that the Race Director’s Notes had been copy-pasted from last year, without updating a reference to the ISC… 🤦

    2. RandomMallard
      29th May 2022, 21:22

      @orrc Luckily for Perez, Ferrari actually conceded that no part of the wheel even touched the line and that their protest was unfounded, so realistically he was never in doubt. I think in terms of Verstappen, it does depend on how you interpret it. Last year, Stroll had a wheel on the line and got away with it (as noted in the decision for Verstappen), so my guess is they try to apply the same rule to pit exit lines as they do to track limits (i.e. being over means the whole wheel), but your guess is as good as mine though. If I’m honest, I don’t care about Verstappen’s penalty/non-penalty, I’m just delighted Checo kept his win!

      1. Ah yeah, I see that, thanks for the info.

        So it’s weird that this article says the stewards ruled on this:

        In the case of Perez, the stewards ruled no part of his tyres came in contact with the asphalt to the left of the line

        But, as you say, the decision document doesn’t say they made a decision, as Ferrari conceded their protest…

      2. With track limits, they’re exceeded when a car is wholly off the track and no part of a tyre is in contact with the white line.

        With the pit limit line, it seems it’s been judged that that a car isn’t over it until the *outside* tyres have no contact with the line. Seems weird to me as obvs a car at full speed could hit a wheel and tyre of an emerging car over-hanging the pit exit line with them.

  5. I think that’s the right call as when you see the footage from Leclerc’s car it’s fairly clear that Max didn’t cross the line.

    He was on the line (Which is allowed) & he came close to crossing it but ultimately it didn’t look like he did.

    1. Actually i think i mis-read the decision.

      They seem to be saying that a part of Max’s tyres did go beyond the line and if that was the case then for me that should have been a penalty.

  6. Brandon Lotter
    29th May 2022, 20:52

    I’ve seen drivers penalized for even glancing that line now all of a sudden it changes for vestappen. There’s a reason why no one goes near it. So nowthat just means everyone can touch it as long as there car doesn’t cross it.

  7. In the end, Max didn’t cross the yellow line. Neither did Checo, so the right call.

    1. @jerejj

      part of its front left and rear left tyre [were] on the left side of the yellow line

      It’s Ok for Checo. As for Max, that means that his tyres were somehow lifted from the asphalt and landed on the left side of the line. So they didn’t cross the line technically speaking.

  8. yyyeeeaaahhh
    29th May 2022, 20:55

    I think they interpreted the rule differently before, but it is in line with how the track limits are enforced.
    Now let’s see how the drivers play with that on the next races :)

    1. Alonso : Hold my beer !

  9. Hmm …. Didn’t Lando lose a qualifying lap time due to track limits? Strictly upholding the rules, does seem so in this case, did anyone else do the same?

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      29th May 2022, 21:01

      To be fair, track limits mean your whole tyre crossing the line. If you have a tiny part of your tyre in contact with the line, you are still considered to be on the track. Lando didn’t so he got a penalty.

      I’m not aware of this ever being clarified in terms of the pit exit or if anyone has received a penalty when all 4 tyres are either inside or touching the line.

      1. Does seem inconsistent , especially if no other drivers crossed the line

    2. @stjs16 Lando lost the qualifying time as all 4 wheels had gone beyond the white line, Had he kept a part of a tyre on the white line he’d have been fine.

      It’s always been the same with the pit exit line but in reverse where going onto the line is fine as long as no part of the tyre goes beyond the outer edge of the line & there are plenty example in the past where drivers have done similar to Max & also gone without a penalty.

    3. Hmmm didn’t lando cross the line in Russia 2021 with a full car in the wet and only got a warning. Stewards made a decission and thats it.

      1. @Grapmg Pit entry line on that occasion & circumstances caused that, so he only got a warning.

  10. So we can call race directors as race clowns from now on as they are not credible anymore.

    1. RandomMallard
      29th May 2022, 21:25

      Nope, it’s the stewards, not the race directors.

  11. Seems like if the stewards actually took the time to investigate this during the race this protest wouldn’t have happened.

    1. They did, when the message comes up that something is noted they have already looked at and evaluated it. That Ferrari decided to protest is fair game to them, but that doesn’t mean the stewards neglected their job.

  12. Neil (@neilosjames)
    29th May 2022, 21:13

    Sounds fair enough, and also helpfully (re?)clarifies the meaning of ‘crossing’ for any future protests. Should have been dealt with during the race.

    Shame it doesn’t happen more often, I’m sure there’s enough on-screen graphic capacity to ram in Hawkeye Pit Exit Line Replays Sponsored by Rolex now the AWS stuff seems to have been toned down a little.

  13. I’m still baffled by Ocon’s penalty.
    Is it ok now to tag people’s rear wheels now and pretend they turned in on you to cause a collision?
    At least it was in a slow corner this time and Ocon did a great job of catching it without spinning.

    1. Hamiltons front wheels were past Ocons rears, the only reason the contact hit his front wing is Hamilton stamped on the brakes when Ocon turned in. Slam dunk penalty under rules posted this year by the FIA.

      1. It didn’t look like he had half a car alongside to have the right to space. What rules did they change?

  14. The Redbull decision just re-inforces the case for electronic monitoring of the lines. I’m not saying either driver broke the rules. It would take out the guesswork and protests by issuing an automatic penalty instantly no arguments.

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