The pair of Red Bull and McLaren team personnel opine on what transpired at the start and towards the end of the F1 US GP, with regards to penalty and how they raced.
It always looked pre-meditated by Red Bull’s Verstappen at the start of the F1 US GP, when he covered the inside line into Turn 1 which kind off forced McLaren’s Norris to go off-track and thereby concede the position to the Dutchman.
In doing so, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc chanced upon them both and took the race lead. He anyhow had the upperhand along with teammate Carlos Sainz, leaving Verstappen to fend off Norris in the fight for third in the later stages of the grand prix.
For most part, it looked that Red Bull had enough in the tank but on the hard compound, they never looked good which allowed the Brit to catch up. He also had a fresher tyre after elongating his first stint, in a strategy that almost worked for McLaren.
Norris seemingly took a rather cautious approach for laps when he closed up on Verstappen, as he waited to pounce on him at the opportune moment. The Dutchman held it together and when the Brit pushed on at Turn 12, he was forced to take the outside line.
The Turn 12 caught several drivers already with Norris joining the list. He was put under investigation for going off-track and gaining an advantage. Since he didn’t give back the position, he was eventually handed 5s time penalty by the stewards.
Even though Verstappen also went off-track while fighting for track position, the stewards noted only noted about Norris’ lasting gain since he was not considered to be ahead at the apex. He eked out a 4s gap but it was not enough to hold back the Dutchman.
McLaren then asked Oscar Piastri to slow down as well after initially telling him to quicken up after they initially thought that the investigation was for Verstappen pushing Norris off track. While Red Bull were calm about it, the other side didn’t like the stewards’ approach.
Both Norris and Stella felt the decision was rushed and that Verstappen going off track was not taken into account. For Lap and Turn 1, they were still fine considering the lenient approach, but they were not too pleased about the second decision.
Lap 1 scene –
Verstappen: “There was a gap on the inside, so I went for it. That corner is very wide, so it gives you a lot of opportunity of going very wide or try to go really tight. I chose for that option, and I still came out second! Started second, came out second out of Turn 1. This time, of course, it was Charles in front. I think it worked out quite well for me because Charles was anyway faster, so he just pulled away. From there, I just tried to do my own race.”
Norris: “I think both times Max went off the track, he had a lot of commitment to keep me behind. 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 is a bit harder to say, whether it’s 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 for some reason, it’s completely OK in lap one on Turn 1. It’s a tough one. It hurts today. I think Max drove very well. It’s very hard to do what we’re doing. It’s hard when you’re side by side, you’re completely on side of the track, to guess where your braking marker is.
“You’re going quicker than you have before, because you used the battery. The tyres are older, there’s different bumps, a lot of dirt. We’re battling and fighting hard, so I respect the battle that we had. It was a good one, it was enjoyable. I think it was respectful. I think Turn 1, I didn’t do the correct thing, but I felt like what happened at the end of the race was more my side. Otherwise, it was a good battle, and I enjoyed it. We just didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job. A bit of clarity [is needed]. 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.”
Stella: “We were a little upset by the manoeuvre in corner one, because not only Max gained the position, but it costed the complete exit for Lando, and therefore losing the positions on both Ferraris. At the same time, we sort of understood that the stewards might have applied the first-lap mitigating circumstances, and we accepted it, because we always have respect for the difficulties that the stewards operate under. But 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.
“So I think the first lap, the first corner can be mitigated by the first-lap interpretation. But I think this one, for me, is really difficult to understand. More than the one in the first lap. And as to the reference to the inconsistency that I think you are making, because you mentioned the Verstappen [Vegas incident], I don’t think I can comment, because 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.”
Horner: “I think, again, we discussed these many, many times, it goes back to Niki Lauda making an impassioned plea to Charlie Whiting of just let him race. And it was agreed then, for the first lap it used to be, now it’s very much the first corner, let them race. And that was a classic case of that, and they all know that.”
Norris catching –
Verstappen: “I just tried to do the best I could, to be honest. My balance wasn’t great. I was just not really… I was not able to attack the corners. So, yeah, he was putting a lot of pressure. But around here, it’s quite a cool track to defend. There are a lot of possibilities. So, yeah, it makes it good for racing.”
Turn 12 moment –
Verstappen: “Yeah, I think it’s quite clear: you can’t overtake outside of the white line. I mean, I got done for it also here in, I think, 2017 or whatever it was. So I lost my podium like that. So I just remained calm, tried to do the best I could after that to bring the car to the end because it was not easy with the tyres and the situation that I was in. But yeah, overall, I still really enjoyed that battle that we had.”
Norris: “It’s tough. There’s different alterations of things. It’s a tough job to steward these kinds of things. For me, whatever I did, I did. 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. 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. But those are the rules. They 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. So, I think there’s again inconsistency, but it’s tough.
“For me, it’s just a rushed decision. They don’t hear or understand our points, which they should do after the race. They just want to make a decision at the time, so you don’t alter points and podiums and things like that. Therefore it’s a rushed decision, and they don’t hear my point of discussion or my team’s point or Max’s point, which I don’t think is maybe the most correct thing. Today it was a penalty. Not a lot I can do apart from just accept that. I tried, we both tried, it was a great battle, I really enjoyed it, it was tough. Max drove very well and defended very well, but he ended up on top, so congrats to him.”
Stella: “I think he was ahead of the apex in relation to the interpretation of the overtaking manoeuvre is not the relevant bit. I think the defending car 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. If I were a journalist, I would have done a bit of statistics. How many times Max has used this way for defending? Both cars go off track. So I think both cars are gaining an advantage if there’s an advantage gained. So for us this manoeuvre was at the least neutral. But when I saw that there was an under investigation, I was pretty sure that was because Max pushed Lando off the track. And in fact we told immediately Oscar, make sure you close five seconds on Max because there could be a position at stake.
“So the interpretation of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is polar opposite. I am surprised that the stewards didn’t even feel the need to discuss with the drivers after the race. It is an uncertain situation. Get the opinion of the drivers, get the time to assess the situation with the level of details that is required when the situation is not so clear. So where is the urgency to interfere with the result of a race with a championship course just because you have to make the decision in 60 seconds? It’s a question mark that I think the stewards should take constructively, positively. Is it really needed to make a decision so quickly and, in our opinion, so wrongly?”
Horner: “The racing between the two of them was competitive and great to watch and obviously all the drivers know acutely what the rules are, they discuss these issues in particular corners in the briefings with the various stewards and driver stewards and race directors. So, look, the pass was made off track. We’ve been on the receiving end of that. And, in fact, here, I think, against Kimi for 2018. So, for us, it was crystal clear that the pass had been made off the track. So, he should have given the place back. He chose not to. So, therefore, there was a penalty. So, for us, it was very much a black and white scenario.”
Brazil 2021 moment, place not given back –
Stella: “Well, that was extreme because the speed at which Max missed the apex in Brazil. Like if you turn into Max, then it’s a big crash at the time. This one, it was much slower speed, so it could be a more benign situation. But it’s just the fact that you defend by going off track. This cannot be permissible. Regarding us not giving the place back, because at the pitwall and under my responsibility but there was complete agreement by all the people involved in this interpretation, this situation did not need to be investigated and 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.”
What can be done, decisions re penalty, gravel trap –
Verstappen: “No, I don’t [sympathise with McLaren’s complaints about decision/stewarding]. I mean, they complain about a lot lately anyway, but 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. As for the corner, I mean, it might help, but we have to deal with bikes as well that race here. They don’t like the gravel, so then you have to remove it again. Track days, people spinning off, of course, on track days. You have amateur drivers, professional drivers. It does cost a lot of money when you have to do that, and not every track can do that throughout the year. Yes, it would work, but on the other hand, I’m not sure how sustainable that is for the season.”
Norris: “I don’t think you can appeal this kind of penalty, which is, again, a silly thing, because they’re just guessing, and I don’t think that’s how stewarding should be done. But it’s a difficult job for them to do. So I’m not complaining against them. I think it’s just more the fact they don’t see everything, understand everything as well as we do when we’re inside the car. That’s it.”
Stella: “The decision cannot be appealed, so for us the matter is closed. Myself, the drivers, the team. Now we close this chapter. We hope that the FIA and the stewards will review the case, so that in the future we will have a better policy, a better stewardship of the racing. We now focus on the next race. I don’t think new and relevant evidence exists, because the only evidence that we have used so far to assess our interpretation, which is in disagreement with the stewards, is what is already available. So if you open up the right of review, I don’t think it will ever be successful because you don’t need new evidence. It’s just a matter of interpretation.
“I mean, there are various guidelines that can be invoked to help the interpretation of this case, one is the we say like leaving enough space. Personally, I think, had Verstappen being able to negotiate the corner, for me, it was clear that Lando should have given back the position. But Max, I even printed, he is just at the apex, there is no that he is thinking that ‘I am going to reach the corner’, that’s what makes the defensive manoeuver, not permissible. That’s why we say, at the least, this is neutral, if not Max is once again disallowing the car on the outside to complete the manoeuver, because it is just not possible for the car on the outside.”
Horner: “I think it’s very difficult for the stewards and every incident is different. You have to look at every incident individually. And when you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s not nice. As I said, 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, with the car advantage and tyre advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race. It looked like he went to give the place back up at Turn 1, but there was some confusion there. If he’d have given the place back immediately, he probably would have had enough pace to make the pass. I think it was a slam dunk. And the problem is, again, we then have the arguments of you want the right people on the podium. So, you have this, it’s happened so many times that I actually think the stewards dealt with it pretty rapidly and decently today.”
Title scene –
Norris: “It’s a momentum killer. But we came in here with our mind open, not expecting to dominate or just win or anything. So the fact that Ferrari was 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 only could have finished third. But one guy I need to beat is Max, and that’s the guy I didn’t beat today, so it was a non-successful weekend all in all. But we gave it a good shot. I tried. It wasn’t good enough, and we have work to do, and I’ve worked to do on myself.”
Aggression against Verstappen –
Stella: “I would not say that Lando needs to be more aggressive. I think anytime you have this kind of duels on track, you learn a little bit but I don’t think Lando should change the fundamental way how he goes into this kind of overtaking and defending manoeuvers. There are some technicalities that possibly can be reviewed but I think in this case, if it wasn’t on this lap, it could have been in the next lap, Lando would have been successful in his manoeuver, so I don’t think you need to change, become aggressive at a risk of not finishing the race. Obviously Max, he has a lot of experience, we are talking about a very-very capable driver, I am not disrespecting this, Max is outstanding. And in this case, the message that McLaren are giving is that there was no need for the stewards to interfere with this situation, or not under the urgency of deciding during the race.”
Here’s FIA stewards’ decision: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20United%20States%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%204%20-%20Leaving%20the%20track%20and%20gaining%20an%20advantage.pdf
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-united-states-grand-prix-leclerc-snatches-the-lead-at-turn-1-as-norris-drops-to-p4-on-the-race-start.1813461306224496252
Here’s duel between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/verstappen-and-norris-duel-in-austin.1813479984978567357
Here’s how F1 US GP panned out
Here’s how F1 US GP sprint panned out
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