McLaren Racing’s team principal Andrea Stella has praised the stewards of the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix for their “consistent” application of the Formula One (F1) sporting guidelines after Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was awarded two 10-second time penalties following a coming-together with McLaren’s Lando Norris in the early stages of the race.
Verstappen, who started P2 – one position ahead of McLaren’s Norris – took an early lead in the race, getting ahead of Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz into Turn 1 of the first lap. He was, however, unable to pull away from the pack as the race was quickly neutralised after the Safety Car was brought out following a disastrous collision between Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon.
Though the Dutchman would control the restart of the race well to deny Sainz a tow along the main straight after the Safety Car left the track at the end of Lap 6, he was unable to match the pace of the SF-24, and, in the next lap, with DRS enabled, Sainz, with a late lunge, forced himself past Verstappen to reclaim the lead of the race.
This saw Verstappen drop into the clutches of his title rival, Lando Norris, who, on the next lap, launched an attack on Verstappen for P2. Verstappen, while attempting to defend his position, drifted wide, forcing Norris off the track at Turn 4 in Lap 10. Norris returned to the track ahead of Verstappen but maintained a wide line going into Turn 7. Verstappen, seeing an opportunity to reclaim his position, dived down the inside, sending both himself and Norris off the track into Turn 8.
Both incidents were subsequently noted by stewards who, after reviewing the available evidence, deemed Verstappen in violation of associated sporting regulations in both incidents.
As stated in the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix Document 47, Verstappen was found as having forced Norris off the track during the incident at Turn 4 – a breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 b) of the FIA International Sporting Code. For this incident, Verstappen was issued a 10-second time penalty and 2 penalty points, with the stewards stating that they believed that Norris’ overtake on Verstappen had been done in a “safe and controlled manner” and that the McLaren driver would have completed the manoeuvre on track had Verstappen not forced him off.
Norris, who returned to the track ahead of Sainz, was not penalised, as the stewards noted that he had ceded his position to the Ferrari Driver, thereby relinquishing any advantage that he had had gained unfairly.
Verstappen, as stated in the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix Document 44, was further issued another 10-second time penalty for the incident in Turn 8, with the stewards deeming him as having gained a lasting advantage over Norris after leaving the track – a breach of both Appendix L Chapter IV Article 2 c) of the FIA International Sporting Code and Article 33.3 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
Though Verstappen would remain ahead of Norris until he was brought into the pits for a tyre change, his combined 20-second penalty and a slower-than-expected pit stop resulted in the Dutch driver dropping to the back of the grid. Though Verstappen would be able to make his way through the field, he was unable to catch up to Norris and ultimately finished P6, four places behind Norris in P2.
While speaking with the media after the race, the McLaren boss stated that he believed that the penalties handed to Verstappen seemed consistent with the sporting guidelines associated with such incidents, though he admitted that he had not had time to thoroughly review the incident.
“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 interpretation of the incidents, but in my view, the penalties seem to be consistent with the application of the guidelines in relation to those kinds of incidents.”
Stella, who had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the stewards’ decision to penalise Norris after a similar clash between the two drivers in the late stages of the United States Grand Prix race, added that, from his point of view, the decision to penalise Verstappen was a positive one which showed good governance of the sport. He praised the stewards for the “good job” that they had done but noted that their ability to do such a good job was likely a result of the constant review and improvement of regulations and practices within the sport.
“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 that surely comes because of constant review, like we do in Formula 1, in any kind of thing you do, you then review, and you try to improve.”
“And certainly we as a team, there’s many things that we know we can review and improve, and 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, and we, not as a team, but as a part of the F1 community, I feel like I have to thank the FIA and the stewards.”
When asked if he believed that the incidents at Turn 4 and Turn 8 had been of different intensities, the McLaren team principal stated that such opinions were open to interpretation and based on “some level of subjectivity.” He added that, as he had not been able to review the incident, he preferred not to express such opinions as he was not aware of all the associated facts. However, despite this, he stated that he believed that the stewards’ decision was appropriate. He repeated that he believed the decision to be a positive one for all parties involved in F1.
“I think in your interpretation, there’s some level of subjectivity which could be absolutely accurate in your interpretation, but I would like to stay away from this because I don’t have all the facts. I haven’t even checked the incident more than once at the pit wall looking at the image, so I do trust the work of the stewards in my view today.”
“They interpreted the racing scenarios accurately, they applied the guidelines consistently, and like I said, for me this is positive news for everyone.”
Stella also expressed that he believed that Norris’ race had been compromised by the incidents with Verstappen. Though he admitted that he had initially believed that the incidents would not make a big difference in the outcome of Norris’ race due to the faster pace of both Ferrari drivers at the start of the race, he stated that Norris’ competitive pace in clear air had shown that the twenty-four-year-old could have been in contention for the victory had his race not been compromised.
“Well, at the start of the race, during the first stint, I thought probably this is not making a big difference because I thought the Ferraris were faster today, but as we were going through the first stint, actually Lando, as soon as he got clear of what happened, showed that he had a very competitive pace and then in the second stint actually proved that the competitive pace was as fast as Ferrari.”
“So, in hindsight now, when I look at the incidents in the early laps of the race, there’s a little bit of disappointment because, without that couple of incidents, I think Lando could have fought for the victory today.”
However, Stella expressed that such speculation was not beneficial, and instead opted to focus on the MCL38’s strong performance and particularly, its ability to be on par with the SF-24 at a track that had seemed to be better suited to the Maranello-based team, which he stated was an “encouraging” sign for the remainder of the season.
“Anyhow, this is just if, if, if.”
“For me, the important fact is that we have seen that the car is competitive, the upgraded car seems to be now on par with Ferrari at a track that we thought would be more in favour of Ferrari, so this is encouraging for the remainder of the season.”
The McLaren team principal was also asked about the team’s instructions to Norris concerning him getting past Verstappen after the Lap 10 incidents. While Stella admitted that the team had indicated that Norris could try to get past Verstappen, he claimed that the team had not needed to warn Norris to minimise the risks associated with any related manoeuvres as the team had already spoken extensively about such matters with their drivers.
“The message we gave to Lando was we have pace, if we can pass him, let’s do it, because we understood like I said at some stage that we could compete with Ferrari, and we were losing time behind Max.”
“But obviously we didn’t need to say, Lando knows very well that this kind of overtaking needs to happen in a safe way, because for us we are competing on both fronts, the drivers’ championship and the constructors’ championship, and even when you engage this kind of battles you need to think both things, like we need to finish races.”
“But this was clear, we have talked extensively about this before the race in our objectives with the drivers, so we didn’t need to repeat to Lando.”
Concerning the Turn 8 incident in Lap 10, Stella stated he believed that Norris had attempted to keep to his normal racing line and had been surprised by Verstappen’s attack. However, he claimed that Norris’ surprise was justified as he would not have expected Verstappen to enter the corner with the speed that he had.
“I think Lando was going through his normal line because he would have never expected Max to go for the inside, but effectively I think the development of the incident proved that there was no way to keep the car on track for Max, so I think Lando was caught a little bit by surprise, but the evidence is that it’s quite fair that he was surprised because actually you cannot keep a car on track if you enter the corner on the inside at that speed.”
Stella, however, declined to comment on whether he believed Verstappen to fighting harder against Norris than Ferrari’s Leclerc and Sainz, stating that he disliked commenting on subjective matter
“I don’t want to comment on how Max is fighting Lando, because again this is very subjective, and as much as possible I would like to comment [about] things that are objective. So I don’t comment on that.”
However, he acknowledged that Norris’ on-track clashes with Verstappen were proving detrimental to team, noting that incidents between the two drivers had likely cost McLaren, and Norris himself, points both during the United States Grand Prix and In Mexico.
“Let’s say the outcome of this close fighting between Lando and Max is costing us points, because it costs us points in Austin, and it costs us potentially a go at the victory today.”
“But this is just my objective recognition of the outcome of the fighting, as for the fighting, I don’t want to comment.”
The McLaren boss was also asked about the psychological significance of the incidents and the subsequent penalisation of Verstappen on Norris, who, previously had expressed frustration after losing out to Verstappen during their wheel-to-wheel incidents in Austria, and more recently, in Austin.
Stella stated that Norris tended to be critical of his performance, despite the team often assuring him of their approval of his racing style, despite incidents such as those with Verstappen.
“I think Lando can look at his own racing often looking at the half-empty glass in relation to what he could do, but our conversation and our internal reviews have always been very clear, Lando, we like, we approve, we confirm the way you go racing.”
He claimed that the team wanted Norris to race in a “fair, sportive way” and to rely on third parties, such as the stewards for the mediation of on-track incidents, as he did not “have to prove anything.” Stella added that this kind of “fair and square” racing was what the team required from its drivers.
“It’s not for you to go there and try to find justice yourself. You go racing in a fair, sportive way like you do, and then there needs to be a third party, that is the stewarding, that will say whether some manoeuvres are correct or not.”
“Don’t be desperate, 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 though, that the team kind of confirms, that’s what we want from you Lando, that’s what we want to go racing at McLaren, and for a driver driving a McLaren car.”
Stella reiterated his view of the day having been “positive”, noting that the stewarding had shown that while “it’s good to race hard”, the intervention of an authoritative third party, in this case, the stewards, was vital to ensuring the fairness of the competition.
“So, in this sense, I think this is a positive day, because it has proven that I think 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.”
He repeated that McLaren was “completely happy” with Norris’ racing and claimed that he tried to reassure the driver whenever he became aware of Norris’ self-criticism in such matters.
“So, we are completely happy with the way Lando has been racing before, and anytime I read this kind of headlines, I always needed to have a conversation with Lando, reassure him, don’t worry, it will be alright, time is a gentleman.”
