With the business end of the 2024 season fast approaching, things are also getting heated up between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The two title contenders found themselves involved in a close battle at the Mexico City GP, which brought out the aggressive side of Verstappen that hadn’t been seen for long.
1996 World Champion Damon Hill spoke about the same in the Sky Sports F1 podcast. He recalled how Verstappen ran Norris off the track, not attempting to back off whatsoever and leave room for his rival. “It was just simply a case of, you know, you’re not coming through and that’s okay,” Hill said.
Avoiding controversy post-race, the stewards decided to penalize Verstappen then and there, handing him a 20-second time penalty for forcing Norris out of the track and then overtaking him. As far as Hill was concerned, they were completely justified.
Verstappen gets overtaken but leaves no space so Norris needs to shortcut and is ahead, Max gets mad at that and sends it afterward. In no world, he’s making that corner and if Norris doesn’t avoid him that’s a crash. Such a dangerous driving, unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/kgYgaqqTPP
— Ferran West (@ferranwest) October 27, 2024
The former Williams driver highlighted other close battles on the track—such as between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell—as examples of how drivers could race closely while maintaining respect. He added,
“So, you know, it is possible to race fairly and that is something I’m not sure that Max is capable of. It’s not in his repertoire, it’s not in his philosophy. His philosophy is you’re not coming past.”
Verstappen, however, did not see where he went wrong. After the race, he responded to questions surrounding his time penalty by insisting that he would not change his approach at all.
More Verstappen-driven rules might be on their way
After Norris got a five-second penalty in Austin two weeks ago for gaining an advantage off-track, the FIA held a briefing with all drivers ahead of the Mexico City GP. They decided to amend the rules slightly, to prevent drivers from trying to pull off ‘unfair’ moves.
While the changes weren’t officially revealed, a report from the BBC read,
“The FIA said in the drivers’ briefing in Mexico on Friday, sources in the meeting have told BBC Sport, that it would come up with revised wording to cover the specifics of the incident and present it to the drivers for approval later this season.”
BREAKING| FIA to revise F1 racing guidelines after driver input; Qatar implementation targeted:
– The FIA is set to update its F1 racing guidelines following feedback from drivers in Mexico, primarily sparked by Max Verstappen’s defensive tactics against Lando Norris at the… pic.twitter.com/GTjt5MKurT
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) October 26, 2024
Verstappen witnessed, how quickly the stewards were ready to hand out penalties in Mexico. However, while talking more about his 20-second punishment, the Dutchman took a jab, revealing that he would ask Red Bull for drinks the next time he would be asked to stop for that long.
For Verstappen, however, it is no-holds-barred. Hampering Norris’ results in any way could prove to be beneficial, even if it comes at the cost of some minor penalties.
However, if he goes overboard, this approach could easily backfire. Norris is 47 points behind Verstappen heading into the Sao Paolo GP next weekend.
