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Verstappen Penalty In U.S. Grand Prix Sparks Uproar

By Timucin Turksoy October 23, 2017

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Max Verstappen / XPB Images

Lewis Hamilton won his fourth world title at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas on Sunday, but it was Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer’s team uproar against the stewards that oversaw the race that stole the limelight.

Stewards penalized Red Bull driver Max Verstappen on the final lap of the race, depriving him of a spot on the winner’s podium. Verstappen called the FIA stewards' decision against him “unbelievably harsh" and “wrong.”

Verstappen was given a five-second post-race penalty for his last-lap pass of Kimi Raikkonen from Ferrari. The penalty was given for Verstappen leaving the track limits completely with all four wheels, while driving past Raikkonen three corners from the finish flag, on Turn 17.

"We had a great race, but with those stupid decisions you really kill the sport," Verstappen said after the race.

Verstappen was poised to take third place in the race, but the penalty kicked him to fourth, behind his Finnish rival Raikkonen. Sebastian Vettel, also from Ferrari, took second place.

Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen lashed out against the decision on Twitter.

“Obviously F1 don't know what racing [i]s. Only Max gets a penalty when he crosses the line. Nobody else the [w]hole weekend," the elder Verstappen posted to his account on October 22.

"There've been cars going off track all day today and no action at all so I think it's unbelievably harsh to give Max a penalty for that. It's wrong, it's wrong,” said Red Bull’s Christian Horner, according to Sky Sports.

The 20 year-old Dutch driver Verstappen ranks sixth in the 2017 Formula 1 driver standings, which are led by Lewis Hamilton from the Mercedes team.

The 2017 Grand Prix season has included motorsport racing tournaments in 19 different locations across the world, including in the Caspian region countries of Russia and Azerbaijan. Russia hosted the fourth race of the 2017 season at the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi in April. The eighth race took place along the Caspian coastline in Baku, Azerbaijan in June.

The Caspian region will host Grand Prix races again in the 2018 season. The Baku City Circuit will once again welcome international racecar drivers from April 27-29, and Sochi’s Autodrom is booked for September 28-30, 2018.