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Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — As the sun dipped low in the Texan sky, Ferrari’s brilliant one-two victory at Formula 1’s U.S. Grand Prix started to become overshadowed by controversy.
Following a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle to secure the remaining place on the podium, Lando Norris was penalised five seconds for passing championship rival Max Verstappen off the track. The stewards’ decision effectively undid Norris’ overtake, reversed the on-track positions at the chequered flag and resulted in a net six-point extension of Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship.
Such a swing in the drivers’ standings could prove pivotal in this year’s title fight, which only served to amplify questions over the consistency of F1 stewarding and the logic of the sport’s racing rules on Sunday evening.
What happened?
Norris was on a mission to get past his title rival after losing a position to Verstappen on the opening lap at Turn 1. That move, which wasn’t investigated by the stewards because it took place in the melee of the first corner, saw Verstappen launch his Red Bull to the inside of Norris before both drivers left the track.
As the two title rivals struggled for grip in the run-off area, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc swept into the lead, with Verstappen resuming in second place ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in third and Norris down in fourth. Norris made a later tyre change than the cars ahead of him and, after Verstappen lost a position to Sainz in his pit stop, used his fresher rubber to chase down the Red Bull in the second half of the race.
After multiple laps in Verstappen’s wake, he finally got alongside the Red Bull with the help of DRS on the long run to Turn 12 on lap 52. As Norris nosed ahead on the outside line, Verstappen left his braking too late on the inside, resulting in the Red Bull arriving earlier at the apex but both drivers sailing off the track and into the run-off area. Norris emerged back on the track in front of Verstappen, moving him from fourth place to third, and after defending on the following lap into Turn 1, started to build a gap.
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Verstappen told his team over the radio that Norris should give the position back, and soon after, the stewards confirmed they were investigating the incident.
Why did the stewards penalise Norris?
Undoubtedly, Norris had overtaken Verstappen beyond the white line at the edge of the circuit, and therefore faced a potential penalty for “leaving the circuit and gaining a lasting advantage.”
In such instances, drivers often give the position back as soon as possible, especially once the team has been informed by the stewards that the incident is being investigated. Over team radio, Norris asked if he’d been ahead at the apex and the team incorrectly informed him that he was.
While the McLaren driver faced accusations of overtaking off the track, it was equally true that in defending the position, Verstappen’s car had also left the circuit on the inside of Norris and could be deemed to have “forced another driver off the track.” Both transgressions are usually punished by 10-second penalties, although there is plenty of past precedent for five-second penalties being issued if there are mitigating circumstances.
In their reasoning for issuing Norris with a five-second penalty, the stewards made reference to the “Driving Standards Guidelines” — a non-binding set of guidelines over how drivers should go racing, intended to help stewards reach consistent rulings. It was introduced in 2022 and has been regularly updated, but is only supplied to teams and drivers and not made public.
In their statement on the incident, the stewards made reference to a section of the guidelines that says a driver overtaking on the outside loses the “right” to a corner if they are not ahead of their rival at the apex.
“[Norris] was overtaking [Verstappen] on the outside, but was not level with [Verstappen] at the apex,” the stewards’ statement said. “Therefore, under the Driving Standards Guidelines, [Norris] had lost the ‘right’ to the corner. Accordingly, as [Norris] left the track and returned in front of [Verstappen], 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, [Norris] had little alternative other than to leave the track because of the proximity of [Verstappen] which had also left the track.”
The ruling raises questions over the logic of making the apex the judging point for everything that happens in the corner thereafter. It also appears to be at odds with a separate section of the Driving Standards Guidelines that says “the car being overtaken (in this case Verstappen) must be capable of making the corner while remaining within the limits of the track.”
If a driver knows they can force another driver into the run-off along with their own car simply by braking later and claiming the apex, it sets a troubling precedent. Exactly the type of precedent a driver like Verstappen, who often hits the brakes late, could take advantage of.
“For me the point that is incorrect is what Max did, which is defend his position by going off the track, and would effectively be keeping his position, which is not correct,” Norris said after Sunday’s race. “He went off the track by defending, and has overdefended and made a mistake, and therefore has gained from that.
“At the same time, because of that, I’ve had to go off the track. It’s impossible for people to know if I could have made it on the track or I couldn’t. You can’t steward that kind of thing.”
Verstappen is known for putting up a robust defence while racing for position and often leaves his braking late to retain a position. The most famous example from Verstappen’s career came at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2021 when he forced title rival Lewis Hamilton into the run off at Turn 4 at high speed.
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Norris was also on the receiving end of Verstappen’s brand of defending at the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this year while fighting for the lead. On that occasion the two drivers made contact and ended up off the circuit, although it should be said there are clear issues with comparing incidents from different races at different circuits and trying to come up with universal rules for racing. Every incident in an F1 season has a unique set of circumstances.
From Norris’ point of view, though, Verstappen’s racing in Austin was on the limit and, when it goes unpunished, leaves unanswered questions about what should be allowed.
“[The rules] seem to change, because it seems like it’s quite inconsistent from, say, what happened in Austria, where Max didn’t get a penalty and went off the track, gained an advantage,” Norris said. “There’s again inconsistency, but it’s tough.
“The thing is with Max, you’ve got to commit. People don’t understand that kind of thing. With Max, you can’t just go half-hearted.
“Turn 1 [in Austin at the start of the race] is a bit harder to say, whether it’s that I didn’t commit enough, but the fact that he committed so much speed in that he again went off the track, I mean I can’t just dive up the inside of someone, run off, and then keep the position in normal running. But look, if I defended better in Turn 1 and wasn’t driving like a muppet … I should have led after Turn 1, and we shouldn’t have had this conversation in the first place.”
When the situation was put to Verstappen, he was typically succinct in his reply: “It’s very clear in the rules. Outside the white line, you cannot pass. I’ve been done for it as well in the past.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has some sympathy with the task of the stewards and also pointed the finger at the McLaren pit wall for not telling Norris to give the place back.
“I think it’s very difficult for the stewards, and every incident is different,” Horner said. “So you have to look at every incident individually.
“When you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s not nice. As I say, we’ve been on the receiving end of it numerous times, not just at this track, but at other tracks. So, they all know what’s at stake.
“What I perhaps didn’t understand was it was clear there was going to be a penalty, or it looked pretty clear there was going to be a penalty, and with the car advantage and tyre advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race, it looked like Lando went to give the place back up at Turn 1, but there was some confusion there. If he’d have given the pace back immediately, he would have probably had enough pace to make the pass [again].”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said his team did not tell its driver to give the position back because it believed Verstappen — not Norris — would be the subject of the investigation.
“At the pit wall, and under my responsibility, there was complete agreement by all the people involved in this interpretation, this situation did not need to be investigated,” Stella said. “If anything, we thought the investigation should be for Max pushing Lando off the track, and that’s what we thought was going to happen when we saw that the case was under investigation. So, for us, there was no need to give back the position because of the situation.
“I think the ‘ahead at the apex’ in relation to the interpretation of the overtaking manoeuvre is not the relevant bit. I think [Verstappen] goes just straight at the apex. We checked the video multiple times. It’s just going straight, it’s just going off track as much as Lando is doing, just giving no chance for Lando to complete the manoeuvre.
“So for us this manoeuvre was at the least neutral, but when I saw that there was another investigation, I was pretty sure that was because Max pushed Lando off the track. So the interpretation of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is polar opposite.”
Stella also believes the stewards should have investigated the incident after the race, rather than before the chequered flag, to allow time to interview the drivers.
“They should have respect for their job as well, and when the case is so difficult, like Lando and Max, just take the time, review it after the race, hear from the drivers, try to understand the subtleties,” he added. “I don’t want to look like I’m criticising people, I’m just criticising the approach. Being a steward is such a difficult job, so if you are uncertain, give yourself time, give yourself the way to be as accurate as possible.”
For Norris, the result leaves a mountain to climb over the remaining five races if he is to beat Verstappen to the championship. Ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix, the McLaren driver had a 52-point deficit to Verstappen. It now stands at 57 points. To put that lead in context, if Norris won all five remaining grands prix with fastest laps and one of the remaining sprint races, Verstappen could still finish third in each of the remaining races (including Sprints) and retain his championship crown.
“It’s a momentum killer,” Norris admitted on Sunday night. “But we came in here with our mind open, not expecting to dominate or just win or anything.
“The fact that Ferrari were so quick today showed they’re just as competitive. Even if I came around Turn 1 in first, I would never have finished first or second, and could only have finished third.
“But the one guy I need to beat is Max, and that’s the guy I didn’t beat today. So it was an unsuccessful weekend all in all. We gave it a good shot. I tried. It wasn’t good enough, and we have work to do, and I have work to do on myself.”