McLaren fumes at ‘inappropriate’ F1 bosses after battle between Norris and Verstappen

McLaren has angered F1 bosses over what they believe was ‘inappropriate’ interference in the gripping battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the US Grand Prix, which cost their driver a podium finish.

Amid an increasingly tense battle for the F1 Drivers’ Championship title, Norris – who arrived in Austin 52 points behind Verstappen in the season standings – competed with his rival for third place in the closing laps of an race in which Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainx take a one-two.

Norris thought he had done the job with four laps to go when he got ahead of Verstappen at Turn 12. However, the stewards gave him a five-second penalty on the final lap after they felt the Briton had gained a lead by going off track to run. to complete the move and relegate him to fourth, behind Verstappen, after the checkered flag fell.

Explaining their decision, the four-man stewarding panel said Norris lost the ‘right’ in the corner because he was not level with Verstappen at the top. However, they recognized that Norris had little choice but to leave the circuit, because Verstappen also drove over the white lines.

The result means Norris leaves Texas 57 points behind the Dutchman, with only 146 points available over the final five rounds. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella was not happy with the stewards’ intervention in the battle.

“My view is that the way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate because both cars went off track, giving both cars an advantage,” Stella said. Air sports. “It’s a shame, because it costs us a podium.

“It took us a race where we stayed patient after being pushed off the side in the first corner on the first lap. We accepted it, after expressing our position very clearly. These types of decisions by the stewards cannot be appealed. The chapter is now closed for us and we move on to the next race.”

Norris started from pole position at the Circuit of the Americas before dropping to fourth after a poor first corner and never challenging for race victory again.

Finishing ahead of title rival Verstappen and closing the gap in the season standings would have at least provided some consolation, but instead the Briton was denied and had to disagree with the stewards’ decision.

When asked if he understood the verdict, Norris replied: “No, not really. The point where it is incorrect is what Max did, which was also defending his position by going off track and holding the position.

“He went off because he defended too much and made a mistake, but he won from that. I had to move away to avoid him. With Max you have to commit, you can’t be half-hearted and people don’t understand things like that.

“It’s impossible to know if I could have stayed on the track (without it). That’s why you can’t manage this kind of thing. It’s just a hasty decision and they don’t hear or understand our points that they should do after the race. They just want to make a decision at that moment.

“And you can’t appeal these kinds of penalties, which again is a foolish thing to do because they’re just guessing and I don’t think that’s the way stewarding should be done.”

It will come as no surprise that Verstappen disagreed with Norris’s comments.

The Dutchman said: “It’s clear, you can’t overtake outside the white lines. It happened to me in 2017 during this race, I got a penalty and lost my podium.”

The F1 circus will head to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend for the Mexican Grand Prix.