McLaren has explained why it didn’t ask Lando Norris to let Max Verstappen past after their Turn 12 off-track battle in Austin, which led to a penalty for the Briton.
In the closing stages of Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix, Norris was hounding Verstappen for third when he finally swooped around the outside on COTA’s back straight with four laps to go.
Verstappen had the inside for Turn 12’s left-hander and looked ahead at the apex, before going off-track at the exit and taking Norris with him into the run-off area.
Norris kept the position until the finish, but the stewards handed him a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, which demoted him back to fourth behind his title rival. It is a more lenient penalty than the usual 10 seconds because the stewards accepted Norris had no choice but to go off-track due to Verstappen’s line.
Norris and his team briefly discussed whether he should give the position back or not, and given the Briton had the quicker car and a tyre life advantage he could have likely made other attempts to pass the Dutchman. But the team was so sure Norris was in the clear that it saw no reasons to let Verstappen past.
«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,» Stella explained.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battles with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
«That’s what we thought was going to happen when we saw the case was under investigation. So for us, there was no need to give back the position.»
Verstappen escaped sanction for pushing Norris off because he was deemed to be ahead at the apex, but according to Stella the fact that the Red Bull driver couldn’t keep his own car on track means his and Norris’ off-track excursion should cancel each other out.
«I think [being] ahead of the apex, in relation to the interpretation of the overtaking manoeuvre, is not the relevant bit,» he added. «I think the defending car goes straight at the apex — we checked the video multiple times — it is just going straight, just going off track as much as Lando is doing and giving no chance for Lando to complete the manoeuvre.
«Both cars go off track, so I think both cars are gaining an advantage, if there is an advantage gained. So for us, this manoeuvre was at 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.
«In fact we told Oscar immediately to make sure he closed within five seconds of Max because there could be a position at stake. So the interpretation of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is the polar opposite.»