Who was in the wrong at Turns 1 and 2 in the fight between Max and Lewis at the start?

Hamilton went straight for the apex with a late move on the brakes down the inside of Lando Norris. Max went alongside — and they almost crashed.

Max was a few centimetres ahead of Lewis when he went off the circuit, and his argument was simple: he was avoiding a collision because Lewis was about to hit him.

Lewis saw it differently: Max had overtaken him off the circuit.

Sound familiar?

It looked a lot like Monza Turn 2, only with the roles reversed — this time Hamilton was the one squeezing his opponent off the circuit.

Red Bull decided to play it safe rather than risk a potential 5-second penalty and asked Max to give the position back, even though Kimi was already between the two of them at that stage.

But a closer look at the data tells an interesting story.

At the moment Max went off the circuit, his car was actually centimetres ahead of Lewis.

So, was Red Bull right to ask Max to concede the position?

According to Max: 100% not!

Could he have won the race if he had stayed ahead of Kimi?

We will never know… 🏎️⚔️

Was the Race Director right to call a VSC after Stroll’s off?

On safety grounds, we can never seriously argue with such a decision. But we can ask two very relevant questions.

First: why was the VSC called at exactly that moment?

If it had been called just a few seconds earlier, the protection for everyone on track would actually have been much better, while every driver would also have had an equal opportunity — rather than the race leader becoming the biggest loser and everyone behind receiving a huge advantage.

Second: once it became clear that the race leader had been seriously penalised by the timing of the VSC, why wasn’t it extended until he had completed his pit stop?

That would have prevented the advantage from being amplified even further and restored a much more level playing field.

Safety comes first. Always.

But when the timing of a safety intervention can have such a massive impact on the outcome of a race, the timing and management of that VSC deserve serious analysis — and some very serious questions. 🏎️⚠️

The race was conceived as a spectacle — a luxury extravaganza and a major event — but it seems not enough thought went into the actual racing.

The so-called feeder series, F3 and F2, usually produce great racing because teams and drivers compete with essentially equal machinery. Yet even those races produced very little action at Madring.

It was a procession in F3, F2 and, especially, F1.

The layout is a great challenge for drivers and engineers during qualifying and the search for the perfect lap. But when it comes to overtaking potential, it is simply appalling.

If the main objective was to create a huge catering and corporate hospitality extravaganza, the organisers certainly achieved their aim.

As a racing circuit, however, Madring failed badly.

It also seems that the drivers and teams were not properly consulted — or, at least, not listened to when they raised concerns about the layout.

That is why it looks highly unlikely that next year’s race will take place on the current configuration.

Expect at least two chicanes to disappear for 2027, much like the Mickey Mouse sections removed from Singapore and Abu Dhabi, where the racing subsequently improved substantially.

It really is very strange that F1 appears to have not learned these lessons already. 🏎️🇪🇸

Our F1 Start Reaction Challenge

George Russell — 0.170 seconds.

Think you can beat him?

Curious what yours is?

Measure your reaction time under the current F1 start regulations with our free web app.

👉 Reflex Champion

And there’s more than bragging rights: the fastest fans each week receive a FREE copy of our F1 racing thriller Countdown to Lights Out.

📩 Get in touch - [email protected]

🏎️ The Fastest Lap Team

All images and videos used in The Fastest Lap Newsletter are our own or have been provided by our partners, including https://www.spasgp.com/

The Fastest Lap Newsletter is an independent project and is not affiliated with Formula 1 or any F1 team.

Share it with a fellow F1 fan.

Not your thing? No hard feelings.

That’s a chequered flag 🏁 for today.

Tomorrow, best. 🏎️