FIA decision made after Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton investigated for Dutch GP sprint incident

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were among several drivers that were investigated by the FIA after being noted for infringements during the sprint.

The Dutch driver’s former Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who was deputising with the Racing Bulls in the sprint; Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas; and Williams’ Carlos Sainz were also pulled up for infringements.

Verstappen and Tsunoda were noted for failing to follow race directors’ instructions, while in Bottas's and Sainz’s case, the Williams driver was deemed to have overtaken his Cadillac counterpart during the formation lap as he pulled into the pit lane.

However, after the stewards reviewed available video evidence, they deemed that the Spaniard’s scheduled pit lane start meant the violation was 'redundant', and so Sainz got given a warning.

Verstappen and Hamilton finished within the point-scoring positions after the pair finished sixth and seventh, respectively; however, they were made to sweat after crossing the chequered flag as the duo still were awaiting the FIA’s decision on the sprint infringements.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (3) Red Bull Racing RB22 on track with Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin AMR26 on track and Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (87) Haas VF-26 on track

Following their investigation, officials believed the incident did not warrant a penalty as further details came to light, and so the result for Verstappen and Hamilton stood.

The FIA said: “Car 3 stopped before reaching Safety Car Line 1 and therefore did not reach the grid (as defined in item 24 of the Race Director’s Competition Notes) under its own power.

“However, as the end of the grid was extremely crowded when the car reached the grid, the stewards determined the driver acted appropriately and stopped the car in a safe spot as close as possible to the grid. Therefore, no penalty is applied.”

There were a total of six drivers; Lance Stroll, Tsunoda, Lewis Hamilton, and Bottas were brought up for the same infraction, but none of them were awarded a penalty by the FIA.

George Russell claims victory in the Dutch Sprint

The top five drivers at the sprint race at Zandvoort had no concerns about any potential penalties as their races went off without a hitch.

George Russell stormed to a dominant victory in the sprint to earn eight points as he aims to reignite his Drivers’ Championship title charge.

His main competitor and the man currently leading the championship, Kimi Antonelli, could only finish fourth to earn five points.

This allowed Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris to slightly close the gap to the Italian in this title fight as they finished second and third respectively.

Verstappen and Hamilton earned three and two points after they did not receive a penalty for their infringements during the sprint, while the final point was collected by Pierre Gasley as he finished eighth.