Why was Max Verstappen not penalized for impeding Kevin Magnussen during the 2023 F1 Austrian GP qualifying?

After taking the pole position in the 2023 F1 Austrian GP qualifying, Max Verstappen was called up in the Stewards office for impeding the car of Kevin Magnussen while the latter was on a fast lap.

This was quite massive news during the late hours of Friday, as Verstappen could have lost the pole position lap. However, this was not the case after discussions with both the drivers and teams.

The stewards explained how they heard arguments from both Max Verstappen and Kevin Magnussen about what happened on the track. They also looked at the video and audio evidence for more clarification.

Their final verdict read:

"The driver of Car 1 (Verstappen) stated that he saw a car approaching after he crossed the line at the end of his push lap and moved to the left of the track after the exit of Turn 1. The driver of Car 20 (Magnussen) stated that he had to move to the right to avoid Car 1 and hence lost time on his fast lap."

On further investigation through the video and audio evidence, the stewards learned that Magnussen's car clipped the curb on turn one, which affected the acceleration a bit and resulted in a slower time on the upcoming mini-segment.

Furthermore, it was seen that Magnussen did not try hard enough to evade the Red Bull in front of him.

"The Stewards determined from the video (and audio) evidence that Car 20 had clipped the kerb in Turn 1 and that this subsequently caused a slight change in acceleration which in turn resulted in a slightly slower time on the next mini sectors. The Stewards further determined that Car 20 did not have to take significant evasive action," the verdict added.

"We further note that the fact that the lap time of Car 20 was subsequently deleted (due to exceeding track limits at Turn 10) was irrelevant to this decision. Any incident is always investigated independently of other incidents or penalties," the verdict continued.

In conclusion, Max Verstappen will still keep his pole position for the 2023 F1 Austrian GP.

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Max Verstappen addresses track limits chaos after clinching pole position in Austrian GP qualifying

Max Verstappen was several tenths quicker than everyone else as he took the pole position for the 2023 F1 Austrian GP. However, he too was caught going slightly off the track, which triggered the track limit rule and resulted in his lap getting deleted.

"It was very difficult due to track limits. We don't do this on purpose but with these speeds and all these high speed corners, it's so hard to judge the white line. That's why you could see a lot of people getting caught out - including myself. It is about surviving. Even in Q3, you just want a banker a lap," he said in the post-qualifying interaction.

While Max Verstappen somehow kept it inside the white lines on the laps that mattered, his teammate, Sergio Perez was unable to do so. Hence, his lap was deleted, which resulted in him getting knocked out in Q2 itself.