SPIELBERG, Austria -- Max Verstappen left no doubt about his opinion on his view on the move that won him the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen overtook Ferrari's Charles Leclerc three laps from the finish at the Red Bull Ring, a move which saw the two drivers bang wheels. Leclerc was forced off the road after the move, opening his radio channel to ask "What the hell was that?"
As Verstappen crossed the line to take the chequered flag, the impending investigation was confirmed. The pair visited the stewards at 1800 local time and some two hours later it was confirmed he would face no further action.
Speaking straight after the race, Verstappen said: "It's hard racing otherwise we have to stay home. If those things are not allowed in racing, what is the point of being in F1?"
Leclerc used the example on Verstappen's failed overtake attempt on the previous lap to highlight why he felt it had crossed a line.
"I was on the outside, like the lap before," he said. "The a lap before was completely fine, he left the space for a car width on the exit of the corner but he didn't on the other lap so we touched and I had to go wide, and then obviously I didn't have any chance to pass back so it's a shame."
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, who saw Sebastian Vettel lose victory at the Canadian Grand Prix after being given a controversial five-second time penalty, said the rules have to be respected in this instance too.
"Firstly a great race of Verstappen no doubt, a great race of Leclerc," he said. "It has been a fantastic fight on track but the regulations and rules are clear for the moment, and I think it's not a matter after Canada that we should change the approach.
"The regulation is causing a collision or forcing a car off track, I think both of the situations are there. It's under investigation and we are confident of the result, it's a shame somehow for the podium, but we trust the work of the stewards."
However, Binotto said it was regrettable that F1's rulebook did not allow for hard racing on these occasions.
"We should let them race. It's something that we need to change for the future and I appreciate that and we all agree on that, but as a matter of the current regulations, they do not permit such an action. We wait for the stewards' decision."