Verstappen did not want Hamilton practice penalty

Max Verstappen did not push for Lewis Hamilton to be punished for an incident in practice for the French GP.

While the stewards prepared to rule on the Sebastian Vettel time penalty review, they also had to look into whether Hamilton should be penalised at Paul Ricard for unsafely returning to the track in front of Verstappen.

Verstappen’s Red Bull boss Dr Helmut Marko said that if the stewards acted consistently, they would penalise Hamilton just as harshly as Vettel was in Canada.

But he also admitted that when meeting with the stewards, Verstappen did not push for a penalty.

"Max thought Lewis simply didn’t see him," Marko told ORF. "Max did not complain about the incident at all."

Verstappen confirmed that account, telling Ziggo Sport that "If something like that happens, I’m not one who makes it a big thing.

"We are not fighting Mercedes and we were not racing," he added.

"If it was for the title and we were competing directly with Mercedes, you may take the opportunity against your opponent. But in our situation, I don’t feel like doing that.

"Generally I think it’s better not to whine all the time. These situations happen, especially with the rear view out of these cars so limited."