Max Verstappen was left unimpressed by the actions of a Formula One rival on track at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, after Lance Stroll overtook him as drivers prepared for practice starts.
The incident happened at the end of the first hour of practice, when the clock had already ticked onto zero. At that point, drivers are usually almost on autopilot as speeding around the track serves no purpose to them once they have taken the chequered flag to signify the end of the session. Instead, the only thing left for them to do is to take their place on the grid where they can practice a launch off the line.
It is a valuable source of data for the team and so most drivers tend to take part at the end of each hour of practice.
Unwritten Code of Conduct
No grid order has been set, so drivers can line up on whichever side of the grid they like. Teams usually tell one driver to pick one side and have the other car practice the start on the other side, so they can gather data about what it's like to launch on both sides.
The only real rule they have to follow from race control is that they are told to use the closest grid slot available to the front of the grid on whichever side they choose, to make room for others. But there is also an unwritten code of conduct among drivers in order to respect each other as they all meet at the same part of the circuit.
However, that 'gentlemen's agreement' seemed to be violated at the end of FP1 at Interlagos on Friday, much to the annoyance of Verstappen.
Verstappen's Radio Message
The Dutchman was approaching the start-finish line and was approaching the right side of the grid. He slowed before reaching the grid so he could put his foot down and spin his rear wheels, putting temperature into the rubber so they would find more grip to launch better off the line.
However, as he did so, Verstappen was surprised to see the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll appear suddenly to the right of his Red Bull. "What is that Aston doing. He's just overtaking," Verstappen said over the radio. His race engineer Tom Hart replied: "Yeah, saw that Max, not sure what he's up to."
The moment was shown several times in replays on the worldwide TV feed, prompting bafflement in the Sky Sports F1 commentary box. Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok, on co-commentary duties for the session alongside lead caller David Croft, was incredulous.
Commentators React
He over one replay of the incident: "Lance Stroll, he goes around Max Verstappen, and then Max was like, 'I'm not having that'. What is going on?" Croft then added: "Had Lance been told that he was parking on the right-hand side as well? Max was like, 'Well, actually, that's my spot mate'."
After Verstappen's radio message was played, Croft then asked his colleague: "It's the end of the session, is it gentlemen's rules apply?" To which Chandhok responded by confirming that drivers have something of an unspoken agreement to not do that to each other. He said: "Yes. Think of it like a formation lap in the last sector, treat the last sector as a formation lap. You're all just preparing to do a start, it's just data gathering. There's no need, a bit like we saw in recent weekends, there's no need for unnecessary mess in free practice."
