Lando Norris says the inconsistency of stewarding decisions is frustrating after losing third place over overtaking Max Verstappen off the track in the United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen overtook Norris at the start of the race with a move up the inside into Turn 1 but it forced both drivers off track at the corner exit as the Red Bull completed the move. That incident wasn’t noted by the stewards, but Norris was then handed a five-second time penalty later in the race when he overtook Verstappen around the outside at Turn 12 and the championship leader’s defense again saw both drivers leave the track.
“It’s tough,” Norris said. “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 [stick] 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.
“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.”
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Norris dropped from third ahead of Verstappen to fourth behind him as a result of the penalty, and says it’s particularly tough fighting with the Dutchman because of how hard he races, believing there were multiple occasions when the Red Bull driver’s moves could have been penalized.
“I think both times Max went off the track, he had a lot of commitment to keep me behind,” the McLaren driver said. “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 … 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.”
However, Norris made clear his disappointment was in the uncertainty created by the stewarding, rather than with Verstappen himself for the fight they had.
“I think Max drove very well,” he explained. “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 tires 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.”