FORMULA ONE chiefs will speak to Red Bull’s livid racer Max Verstappen after he blasted “one idiot steward” – believed to be Australian official Garry Connelly.
Verstappen was denied an incredible podium after the stewards decided that he went off track trying to pass Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap.
It was a thrilling climax but Verstappen was hit with a five-second time penalty and a point on his super licence.
It turned the mood in Texas with fans both confused and angry at the decision to punish the 20-year-old.
FIA officials are understood to be keen to speak to Verstappen ahead of this weekend’s Mexico GP to resolve the rift.
Ironically, Connelly was also one of the stewards at last year’s Mexico GP where Verstappen was also denied a podium and bumped down to fourth for a similar offence.
However, while the FIA will seek an explanation from Verstappen for his post-race comments, he received the full support of his Red Bull boss, Christian Horner.
Horner says the F1 chiefs promised that they would not make “hasty decisions again” following their actions in Mexico in 2016.
He said: “The stewards said they wouldn’t make that hasty decision again.
“They said that they’d listen, they’d look at all the facts, they’d listen to the drivers and then make a decision.
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“What’s happened? They’ve made an instant decision and I think it’s a shocking decision.
“They didn’t even listen to Max’s argument. In other instances, they would have had the drivers in and listened to both sides.
“He has the right to express himself and in any sport emotions run high – that’s what sport is.”
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