Max Verstappen once got a bit carried away with his winning celebrations at the 2021 Styrian GP in Austria. The Dutchman was on a winning streak and had also won at Red Bull’s home track in Spielberg. Thus, after crossing the chequered flag, Verstappen did a burnout to celebrate his victory. However, it did not go down well with the FIA as then-race director Michael Masi gave him a warning that such antics “won’t be tolerated again”.
However, Verstappen did try to put his perspective. According to ESPN, he reasoned, “I understand about safety, but I looked in my mirrors, took it all the way to the right, and took it easy. Everyone was on the left, and then I just did a burnout.” Nonetheless, the Red Bull driver, who was fighting for his maiden championship, assured that,
“If it’s not allowed I won’t do it again, but at the time I thought it was really funny and safe, but of course I understand they don’t want to see this happening again, which is fine for me.”
That time when Max did a burnout after crossing the finish line. Later FIA banned this maneuver.
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Oftentimes, drivers celebrate their wins in F1 by weaving the car to the finish line on the last lap. Verstappen has himself done so several times. However, doing burnouts or donuts on the race track is something that the FIA deems quite unsafe and hazardous as other cars behind the leaders are still racing at full speed to the chequered flag.
Verstappen’s comments after the 2021 Styrian GP reflect how he understands these dangers and vowed to never repeat such a burnout. Now, the car behind the Dutchman was that of then-Williams driver Nicholas Latifi in Austria.
Coincidentally, Latifi had encountered a somewhat similar situation of another racer slowing down on the last lap during his Formula Renault days at the same track in Spielberg.
Nicholas Latifi got a deja vu on seeing Max Verstappen’s Styrian GP burnout
Nicholas Latifi had a crash by going into the rear of Roberto Merhi during a Formula Renault 3.5 race in 2015. Merhi slowed down his car after crossing the chequered flag, which he later revealed to be due to suspension failure.
However, Latifi could not slow down his car in time or avoid Merhi’s car completely. As a result, he ended up colliding and his car flew in the air and upside down. While Verstappen’s 2021 burnout was intentional and in control, Latifi still ensured that he remained cautious while approaching the Dutchman.
The Canadian stated, “I just made sure to stay as far to the left as possible.” Latifi then also highlighted the differences between his 2015 situation and the 2021 Styrian GP finish.
He cited how he was racing with another car back in 2015 and thus had his crash with Merhi, which is unlike the case in 2021 as he did not have any other car near him. Regardless, he agreed with then-race director Michael Masi that such burnouts can be quite dangerous and thus should be avoided.
