Explained: Why F1’s US GP stewards punished Lando Norris
The stewards' explanation for why Lando Norris was penalised for his pass on F1 title rival Max Verstappen at the US GP.
The F1 stewards have offered an explanation as to why Lando Norris was handed a penalty in his epic battle with Max Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix.
Championship protagonists Norris and Verstappen engaged in a breathtaking and controversial duel for the final spot on the podium in Sunday’s race at COTA.
Norris finished third on the road after passing Verstappen around the outside at Turn 12 with four laps to go, but the McLaren driver was handed a five-second penalty for completing the move off track, which dropped him to fourth and promoted his main rival onto the podium.
The stewards’ decision-making proved to be a contentious topic which dominated the aftermath of the race and overshadowed a brilliant 1-2 for Ferrari.
“Car 4 was overtaking Car 1 on the outside, but was not level with Car 1 at the apex. Therefore under the Driving Standards Guidelines, Car 4 had lost the “right” to the corner,” the stewards’ verdict read.
“Accordingly as Car 4 left the track and returned in front of Car 1, it is deemed to be a case of leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage.
“A 5 second penalty is imposed instead of the 10 second penalty recommended in the guidelines because having committed to the overtaking move on the outside the driver of Car 4 had little alternative other than to leave the track because of the proximity of Car 1 which had also left the track.
“In view of the above, we determine that this will not count as a track limit “strike” for Car 4.”
The decision angered McLaren, with team principal Andrea Stella accusing the F1 stewards of “inappropriate” interference with what he described as being a “beautiful piece of motorsport”.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Lando Norris insisted it was “impossible to know” if the team asking him to give the place back to Verstappen would have worked out.
“The stewards obviously can't make their minds up for a few laps, so it's not an easy decision, or it would have come a bit sooner," he said.
"I tried. He also went off the track, a few metres off the track, so clearly went in too hard, and also getting an advantage by doing what he did. But I don't make the rules.
"I need to go look at [the start] again. I was pretty tight, obviously Max went for a tight gap. From inside the car it's obviously harder to say on some things and also easier to say on some things.
"He obviously committed quite a bit, which he's got the right to do, but again, he went completely off the track, so I need to look back at it.
"He defends by going off-track, he overtakes by going off-track. But I'm not going to complain. Max drove well and he defended well, we had a good race together. But the rules are the rules."
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