Norris questions stewards’ decisions after U.S. GP penalty
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
Norris: “stewards' calls were unfair" after losing podium at U.S. GP.
AUSTIN - Lando Norris has expressed concerns over the consistency of Formula 1 stewards' decisions following a pivotal moment in the United States Grand Prix, where he lost a podium finish to championship contender Max Verstappen.
During an intense battle for third position late in the race, both Norris and Verstappen veered off the track. Norris managed to finish ahead of Verstappen on the circuit, only to be subsequently relegated to fourth place due to a five-second time penalty.
When questioned about the penalty, Norris stateed, “I don’t.”
Reflecting on a similar incident at the Austrian Grand Prix where he clashed with Verstappen for the win and both drivers eventually dropped down the order, Norris elaborated, “He went off the track by defending, 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. There’s again inconsistency, but it’s tough.”
Norris, who had secured pole position, was pushed wide by Verstappen at the start of the race. Notably, this move by Verstappen went without investigation from the stewards.
“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 1 on Turn 1. It’s a tough one. Yeah. I don’t know. It hurts today.”
The demotion to fourth place has seen Norris fall further behind in the championship standings, now 57 points adrift with just five races and two sprints remaining in the season.
“It’s a momentum killer,” Norris admitted. “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. But 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.”
As the championship race heats up, Norris's call for more consistent stewarding decisions becomes even more poignant, with every point proving crucial in the battle for the title.
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