One of the controversial topics from last Sunday’s US GP in Austin was the 5-second time penalty handed to Lando Norris for overtaking Max Verstappen off track, a decision McLaren has since launched an appeal against. The hearing on the legitimacy is scheduled to take place later today. If McLaren can uphold the appeal, a subsequent hearing will follow to determine whether the penalty could be overruled.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris battled for position right from the start. Verstappen moved up the inside of Norris into Turn 1, a move that saw both cars leave the track and allowed Charles Leclerc to slip through to take the lead from Norris, who had started the race from Pole. The move also allowed Carlos Sainz to slip past Norris while Verstappen settled in second behind Leclerc.
During the final stages Norris and Verstappen found each other again, when a charging Norris, who had extended his first stint on the medium tyres caught up with Verstappen, after his first and final stop, on a much fresher set of the hard compound tyres.
The duo battled for several laps until, on lap 52, Norris charged ahead of Verstappen on the run down into Turn 12, crucially though Verstappen, through late braking, was ahead of Norris at the apex and ran wide, which led to both drivers leaving the track. Off the track, Norris overtook Verstappen and drove off, a move that the stewards deemed worthy of a penalty; the Briton was served with a 5-second time penalty that saw him finish the race behind title rival Max Verstappen in P4, which also lost the McLaren Driver crucial points in the Driver Championship.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who had his fair share of battles with Verstappen over the years, most notably their thrilling fight for the Championship in 2021, has given his thoughts on the incident.
“It’s always been a grey area that’s why he’s got away with it for so long,” Hamilton commented.
“I mean, they probably need to make some adjustments for sure,” the Mercedes Driver continued.
Hamilton also notes that this isn’t the first time Verstappen has employed such a move, which, so far, has gone unpunished by the stewards.
“But I experienced it many times with Max. You shouldn’t be able to just launch the car on the inside and be ahead, and then you go off and still hold your position. So, they need to definitely work on this.”
Hamilton also pointed out that there have been “inconsistencies” in Stewards ’ decisions and sees room for improvement in comparison to other sports.
“Also, we do have inconsistencies through rulings, weekend in, weekend out, obviously depending on which year it is. As a sport, we do need to level up on all areas, and if you look at other global sports, they have full-time refs, for example, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a bad thing for our sport.”
When talking to media ahead of this weekend’s Mexican GP, Hamilton went into more detail on the ruling and when asked for his thoughts about whether the rules should be adjusted.
“I have for a long time. It’s interesting that people are talking about it now because it’s the same thing that happened to me in 2021 and if you take Brazil into account, for example, under braking, you are ahead, but then the car just […] comes off the brakes doesn’t make the corner and you have to go wide then they say you both went wide, but you have no choice cause you had to avoid collision.
“I mean, there definitely needs to be something done about it because it’s happening a lot now, and you shouldn’t be able to come off the brakes and run more speed and go off track and still hold your place.”
