Ferrari will not appeal “wrong” Austrian GP decision

Ferrari has confirmed it will not appeal the FIA’s decision not to penalise Austrian Grand Prix victor Max Verstappen for his incident with Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen passed Leclerc at Turn 3 with three laps to go to snatch the lead of the race, but appeared to force the Ferrari driver off-track in the process, before going on to seal the win.

The stewards investigated the coming together but “did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominately to blame” and took no further action, concluding it was a “racing incident”.

Under Article 15 of the International Sporting Code, Ferrari is entitled to appeal the decision, as it did in its unsuccessful attempt to overturn Sebastian Vettel’s controversial penalty at the Canadian Grand Prix.

But in his post-race media briefing following the outcome, team principal Mattia Binotto confirmed it would not do so for “the good of the sport”, despite disagreeing with the stewards’ verdict.

“We still believe that this is a wrong decision, that’s our own opinion,” Binotto said.

“We believe that Charles leaves the entire space, he had no fault, a collision has happened and he has been pushed and forced off the track, so we believe these are clear rules which we may appreciate or not.

“And these are exactly the same rules which have been applied in past races. Having said that we respect fully the decision of the stewards.

“They are the judge, we need to respect that, and more than that, as a Ferrari fan - and I am ultimate Ferrari fan - I think it’s time for F1 to turn page and look ahead, other incidents and accidents that may happen in the race.

"As we often said we should leave drivers free to battle. So we may not be happy of the decision, we are not supporting the decision but somehow we understand the fact we need to move forward and overall that’s good for the sport and good for F1.

“We can appeal, we may somehow have intention of appeal tonight and appeal later on but it’s our decision not to do it, as we said it’s good for the sport to turn the page and to look ahead.

“So bravo to Verstappen, the victory of him, he did a fantastic race today, as Charles as well, Charles drove very well, but there will be new opportunities.”