F1 drivers and some team bosses have their say on the Mexico GP tussle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, agreeing with the penalty handed to the Dutchman.
After what transpired in F1 US GP, there were murmurs about Red Bull’s Verstappen escaping a penalty for going off when McLaren’s Norris went off. And after what happened in Mexico GP, most agreed with the two penalties handed to the Dutchman.
They already had a big discussion about driving guidelines on Saturday and seemingly Verstappen went a step too far on Sunday. The first penalty was for forcing Norris off the track at Turn 4 and the second one was for leaving and gaining advantage at Turn 7.
He was given two penalty points for the first one as well, but the whisper was more about the second move which some felt was unfair. Verstappen didn’t readily agree to it, but took it and was more worried about the lack of pace than the penalties.
Norris, meanwhile, noted that he expected such aggression. He felt it was unfair and if Verstappen acknowledges that he went over the limit, it will be more than enough. As noted, several of the F1 rivals kind of agreed with the 20s time penalty handed.
Here’s what they said –
Lewis Hamilton: “I have not seen it. All I saw was…I could see a group of cars ahead and I saw a plume of smoke, like dust and I knew it was – I knew it must have been…[Verstappen]. Again I have not seen it, so I can’t…that’s for you to decide, I am not in that race, so.”
George Russell: “It was nice to have the battle. It’s always good when you fight with Lewis because it’s hard and fair, and at the moment we’ve seen a number of manoeuvres that are just getting beyond entertainment, or beyond sort of sportsmanship, almost unfair to a point now. You can argue the first one was, again, maybe 60-40. The last one, it was… I’ve not seen anything like that since, probably, Brazil (2021).”
Alexander Albon: “He obviously got away with it in Austin and I’m glad the FIA reacted to it. Definitely a step too far. If Austin was grey, this was more black.”
Toto Wolff: “I think the stewards in Mexico decided that they don’t want to see drivers using pushing each other out of the track. That will be now the new normality. All drivers will be very aware if you do that, you risk a five or 10-second penalty. I think back in the day certain stewards had their opinion that was on and because it [Verstappen’s moves] wasn’t penalised it basically legitimated it. Fair enough to have a driver who utilised, who drives within the regs, and utilises all the margins that are given to him by a steward.
“I always say that the drivers or people that have driven in racing cars, they know exactly, and many of you who are experts know exactly what’s happening. You know when somebody is releasing the brake too late and just drags you to the corner, pushes you wide. From the early days in go-karting, you know that you’re not going to survive on the outside if you’re not ahead. So, I think the rules are pretty clear and the drivers know, but, as I said before, the rule is everybody is trying to push them and if you get away with things, that is the new limit.”
Frederic Vasseur: “Honestly, I am not watching the TV during the race, I am focused on our data and GPS. And I don’t want to make any confusion as I didn’t see the move. But I am sure with these kind of tracks when you go wide, you have to take action because at one stage if you are not able to get all the corners, it could be strange. As long as you are all focused on Max and Norris, this is perfect for us. You can be focused on the fight between Toto and Christian, between Zak and Christian or between Lando and Max as long as we are under the radar.
“It will allow us to be fully focused on what we are doing, for the team and the drivers, it is the perfect situation. There will be tons to say about the Max and Lando incident, it will be the headlines and it is good for us. It is clear for us to have no distractions, we are focused on what we are doing with the car, on the management of the team. We are taking it race-by-race, and not thinking about the global picture, and it paid off.”
Oliver Oakes: “I saw Zak’s interview post race and guess you can feel strong depending which side you are on, but from my side, I think at the end of the day, it has been a fantastic season of F1, watching all the battles going on, even Ferrari at the moment as well, coming into it. I think we should be focusing on that actually, more than penalties and guidelines. It is a hard one, we are not in those battles, so I am sure which side one is on.
“I think it is tough, from the outside, like the one thing what you want with all of that is just racing happening and I do feel that kind of is tricky at the moment, which way it should go. From my side, I actually think that Lando and Max are great drivers and it is great to see them at it racing, to be honest.”
Here’s what happened: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-mexico-city-grand-prix-verstappen-handed-two-penalties-after-wheel-to-wheel-battle-with-norris.1814108293397679972
Here’s McLaren, Red Bull relaying the Mexico GP fight
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