Lando Norris accuses F1 stewards of “guessing” as US Grand Prix penalty fallout rages on

Lando Norris had a five-second time penalty at the United States Grand Prix which put Max Verstappen ahead of him as well as damaged his F1 drivers’ championship bid

Lando Norris is concerned the penalty he received for the collision in the United States Grand Prix could be the death knell of his championship campaign.

The Brit was locked in a battle with championship contender Max Verstappen in the early stages of the Austin race when he ran wide during an attempt to overtake. He said he was pushed off by the Red Bull but stewards decided to penalize him for an act of overtaking at the wrong place.

The penalty dropped him behind Verstappen in the final result and saw the McLaren driver’s deficit grow to 57 points with five rounds remaining. Explaining the decision, the stewards said Norris was not ahead of Verstappen at the apex of the corner and therefore lost the “right” to make the overtake.

But the Brit said he did not understand that view and replied: “The point where it is incorrect is what Max did, which was also to defend his position by going off the track and keeping the position. He went off the track because he over-defended and he made a mistake but he has gained from that. I had to go off to avoid him.

With Max, you have got to commit, you cannot go half-hearted and people do not understand that kind of thing. It is impossible to know if I could have stayed on the track. Therefore, you cannot steward that kind of thing.

“It is just a rushed decision and they do not hear or understand our points which they should do after the race. They just want to make a decision at the time. You cannot appeal this kind of penalty which is again a silly thing because they are just guessing and I do not think that is how stewarding should be done.”

To this, Verstappen replied, ignored Norris’s plight and accused McLaren of complaining often of late. He added: There is no ambiguity in the rules – it states clearly that outside the whites you cannot pass. I have been done for it as well in the past too..

Before the Austin race weekend, Norris had been gaining ground on Verstappen a regular basis. But again DeDion’s championship challenger was out raced by the Dutchman in both the Sprint and the main GP held in Texas; outrageously the Red Bull car which he commanded was enhanced to provide better balance.

However, McLaren did not look as formidable as it has done in previous rounds, nor did Norris push hard enough, he confessed, on turn one where he relinquished the lead to the race winner Leclerc. He said: Had I known that I was going to be driving like a muppet weren’t it for being better in defending turn one, I should have led after turn one and then we would not be discussing this issue in this manner.

That is a momentum killer – the one guy I need to beat was Max and that was the guy I did not beat. It was not good enough. We have things to do and I have things to do in me personally.”