Andrea Stella hails ‘consistent’ F1 stewarding with double Max Verstappen penalty

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has hailed F1’s stewards for their “consistent” handling of Max Verstappen’s double penalty at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Reigning world champion Verstappen was given two 10-second penalties for his driving when battling McLaren’s Lando Norris in the same lap during Sunday’s race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

First, Verstappen forced Norris off track at Turn 4, before doing the same into Turn 7 when he lunged his Red Bull down the inside. The Dutchman recovered to finish sixth, while Norris took second to cut Verstappen’s championship lead down to 47 points with four races remaining.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown suggested to Sky Sports after the race that Verstappen’s penalties were “probably not enough”.

Asked by Crash.net if he agreed with Brown’s stance, Stella replied: “I did not hear what Zak said about the penalty for Max.

“In my opinion, and this is a comment that I make straight out of the race, so there may be some more details in terms of looking at the incidents and the interpretation of the incidents, but in my view, the penalties seemed to be consistent with the application of the guidelines and in relation to those kind of incidents.

"So I think from this point of view, this has been a positive day because it shows that authority exists. It shows that the stewards have done a good job, a good job which surely comes from constant review like we do in any thing in Formula 1, you review and then you improve.

“To me it looks like this process has happened also in terms of stewarding, in terms of the FIA having taken some feedback constructively on board and we appreciate this. Not as a team but as part of the F1 community, I feel like I have to thank the FIA and the stewards.”

Stella believes Norris can take a lot away from the fact he has continued to race Verstappen in a “fair, sporting way”.

“I think Lando can look at his own racing, often looking at the half-empty glass in relation to what he could do,” Stella explained.

“Our conversations in our internal reviews have been very clear; Lando we like, we approve, we confirm the way you go racing. It’s not for you to go there and try to find justice yourself.

“You go racing in a fair, sporting way like you do and then there needs to be a third party which is the stewarding that will say whether those maneuverers are correct or not. Don’t be desperate, you don't have to prove anything, you go racing fair and square.

“This is what we want from Lando. This is what Lando wants from himself, and I think it was important that the team kind of confirms that’s what we want from you Lando, that’s how we want to go racing at McLaren and for a driver driving a McLaren car.

“That's why it’s a positive day because I think it has proven that it’s good to race hard, but it can’t be resolved on track by the two drivers. It needs a third party, it needs the authority, so we are completely happy with the way Lando has gone racing before.

“Any time I’ve read these types of headlines, I maybe need to have a conversation with him and reassure him, ‘don't worry, it will be alright, time is a gentleman’.”