Italian Media Accuse FIA of Bias Towards Max Verstappen

Published 07/02/2019, 11:42 AM EDT

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After Charles LeClerc missed out on one of his best opportunities to take a maiden win, the Italian media was admittedly quite sour. So, they accused the FIA of being biased towards Max Verstappen.

According to them, the presence of a large number of Verstappen fans influenced the decision. They believe that Max Verstappen should have been penalised for his aggressive move on Charles LeClerc. Then sudden attack was placed under investigation, but Max Verstappen was eventually allowed to keep the win.

Corriere della Sera correspondent Giorgio Terruzzi believed that the decision took too long. It was also likely influenced by the hordes of Max Verstappen fans, since Austria was Red Bull’s home race.

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He said, “Perhaps there were too many Dutch fans around the paddock, or perhaps it was because it happened at a track owned by Red Bull.”

“Or perhaps there is something mysterious going on between the FIA and Ferrari,”

“It is not easy to accept this decision by the stewards.

“Obviously, there are only rights for the drivers who attack, and no mercy for those who defend. Vettel in Canada; Leclerc in Austria.”

via Imago

Meanwhile, La Gazzetta dello Sport said, “Attack against Ferrari. After Canada, Maranello is again disadvantaged by the stewards, and Formula 1 loses credibility.

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“At the same time, concerns about Ferrari’s political weight after the death of Sergio Marchionne appear.”

This was not the first time an unpopular decision was made by the FIA, which influenced the race result.

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Another victim was Daniel Ricciardo for the French Grand Prix, where he received two 5-second time penalties. As a result, the Renault driver was bundled out of the top 10 and lost valuable points. It was also noteworthy that that decision took nearly three hours to be passed. The massive delay was another cause for concern with regard to deciding the race results.

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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