No brake test by Grosjean - Lotus

A lap-64 shunt saw Verstappen collide with the right-rear wheel of Grosjean's Lotus, resulting in the 17-year-old ploughing the nose of his Toro Rosso into a barrier at Ste Devote.

The stewards later handed Verstappen a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Canada, as well adding two penalty points to his licence.

Although deemed as the man at fault by the stewards, Verstappen stated he was "brake tested" by Grosjean, believing the Frenchman had braked earlier than normal on his approach into the first corner.

But Alan Permane, Lotus' trackside operations director, has made it clear data was handed to the stewards that cleared Grosjean.

Via social media, Permane said: "Romain Grosjean didn't brake test Max Verstappen. He braked five metres later than previous lap. Data accepted by the FIA so the penalty was for Max not RG.

"The FIA have all the information and they were very happy with RG's driving."

Permane also extolled the virtues of Verstappen despite his error on this occasion as he said: "Max will overcome - he is a huge, huge talent."