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Mercedes request review of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton incident at Brazilian Grand Prix

Mercedes request review of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton incident at Brazilian Grand Prix

Mercedes have requested that Formula One’s stewards review their decision to not award Max Verstappen a penalty during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton took victory in Sao Paulo after a brilliant drive, despite starting the race in tenth, but very nearly collided with his title rival before eventually overtaking him.

Verstappen appeared to force Hamilton off the track, and in doing so went extremely wide himself, but escaped punishment during the race and went on to finish second.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff described that as “laughable”, while Hamilton sarcastically responded “of course man, of course”, when he was told.

However, the decision not to penalise the 24-year-old came with the stewards not having the on-board front-facing video from Verstappen’s car available.

That footage was released on Tuesday, and just a few hours later Mercedes revealed they have requested that the incident be further examined.

“The Mercedes Team confirms that we have today requested a Right of Review under Article 14.1.1 of the International Sporting Code in relation to the Turn 4 incident between Car 44 [Hamilton] and Car 33 [Verstappen] on lap 48 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, on the basis of new evidence unavailable to the stewards at the time of their decision,” the team said in a statement.

The FIA’s International Sporting Code allows a right to review on the grounds that “a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned.”

Verstappen currently leads Hamilton in the title race by 14 points, though that could be reduced should a retrospective penalty be imposed.

The Red Bull driver finished just over three seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas in Brazil, so a five-second time penalty would see him drop down to third.

However, should the stewards decide to change their original decision, they could instead opt to penalise Verstappen in Qatar this weekend.

Additional reporting by PA Sport.

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