FIA race director Charlie Whiting has also called on the Red Bull driver to apologise over his post-race criticism of the Austin stewards after calling one an "idiot".
There has been a lot of discussion this past week over max Verstappens last lap overtake of Kimi Raikkonen for third place in the USGP, a move that was penalized post-race as stewards claimed he put all four wheels off the racetrack to get past the Ferrari, and gave him a five second timed penalty as a result of his actions,
This meant that while standing in the cool down room thinking he was about to go out and join in the podium celebrations, he soon realized he was the fourth man in a room meant for three and that there would be no podium for him after all.
The Dutchman and his Red Bull Racing team were furious at the result, especially after earlier footage showed the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas putting all four wheels off the circuit to defend from the same Ferrari, and it seems as if Verstappen even went as far as to call the steward who made the call an โidiot'.
Speaking to Sky Sports ย ahead of this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix, FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting has explained the situation in depth and even called upon Max to apologize for his insults to the steward involved, Garry Connelly, who has been accused of having a personal beef with the Dutchmanโฆ
"It wasn't appropriate and we are discussing things with Max,โ he said. "It would be nice if he was to apologise for using inappropriate language."
Whiting produced video footage to the media in Mexico which showed these other drivers going off track, however in their eyes, Max's move was the only one that gave an advantage, something that is clearly not allowed.
"The accusations of inconsistently are pretty much without foundation. The only time a driver gained a clear advantage he was penalised. The point is the stewards felt he had gained an advantage, had shortened the track, clearly he was off the track, and he passed another car. There was no other incident at that part of the track. I can say, hand on heart, there was complete consistency there. We can come up with 20 or so examples of drivers leaving the track but we examined them and determined that no advantage had been gained. There is consistency.
"Only Max cut a corner and if you look at previous examples of other drivers cutting a corner, [Jolyon] Palmer was penalised in Monza and [Sergio] Perez was penalised at Spa for doing exactly the same thing. As far as l can see, there is complete consistency."
A particular website wrote an article on Connelly claiming that every time he was a steward at any given race (he has been one at five different events this season to date) he penalized Verstappen, something the Dutchman himself said after he found out about the penalty, however Whiting has classed it as pure coincidenceโฆ.
"I've seen those statistics and they don't paint the correct picture,โ Whiting said about the Australian steward. "I think it's coincidence that Garry happened to be there. You can't tie these things together. I know Garry very well and a more honest and scrupulous person you couldn't come across. Any idea that he may have it in for a driver is wholly unfounded.โ
To cement his words Whiting also revealed that it was a unanimous decision between the four stewards on duty at the Circuit of the Americas and that Mika Salo, one of the stewards alongside Connelly, has even received death threats in the past week over the decision.
