Lando Norris and Max Verstappen had another engaging wheel-to-wheel battle at the United States GP last weekend. Although Norris overtook Verstappen on the race track and crossed the chequered flag ahead of him, the #4 driver still finished behind the Dutchman in the final classifications because of a controversial five-second penalty he received.
With McLaren obviously not agreeing to the penalty, they decided to protest it. While the stewards will not overturn the penalty, the FIA did reveal that they will consider changing the regulations to avoid further such controversial moments. As quoted by Formula Passion, an FIA spokesperson said,
“There has been a general commitment to continue to update the driving standards guidelines. There is a consensus that these guidelines need to continue to evolve, not because of isolated incidents like Austin, but because of a desire to bring consistency to the stewards’ decisions”.
Experienced drivers like Valtteri Bottas did highlight the inconsistency in the stewards’ decision-making. The Finn simply believes that as long as different stewards officiate for different race weekends, there is bound to be inconsistency in decision-making because after all such judgments are passed on perception more often than not.
“You know you cannot pass outside the white line, it’s as simple as that” ❌
Max Verstappen reflects on his battle with Lando Norris late on in Austin ⚔ pic.twitter.com/x4HzRjT380
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 25, 2024
Verstappen, who was involved in the battle with Norris, unsurprisingly believes that the stewards came to the right conclusion. He claimed that since he was ahead at the apex, as per the rules, it was his corner and so he cannot be penalized if his rival goes off the track while battling him.
However, Lewis Hamilton — who has had quite the battles with Verstappen in the past — reminded the stewards of a similar incident he faced with the Dutchman back in the controversial 2021 campaign. The Briton referred to the 2021 Brazilian GP in particular when Verstappen ran him wide and there wasn’t even an investigation that was launched.
Hamilton claimed inconsistency in stewards’ decision-making is nothing new
The 2021 F1 season had some of the biggest controversies that have ever taken place in the sport. Besides the controversial Abu Dhabi season finale where Verstappen beat Hamilton to win his maiden title, the Briton recalled how the stewards did not take any action against the Dutchman for their Brazilian GP skirmish. Hamilton said,
“It’s interesting people are talking about it (Norris and Verstappen’s incident in Austin) now because it’s the same thing that happened to me in 2021. If you take Brazil into account for example, under braking you’re ahead but then the car just comes off the brakes and doesn’t make the corner and you have to go wide.”
Considering that Hamilton is giving an example from the 2021 season, it is fair to say that he has not gotten over the trauma completely of losing the title to Verstappen. And with two drivers complaining about Verstappen’s defensive maneuvers, it just goes to show that the Dutchman always pushes the limits and for some, he may even be crossing them.
Now, it is up to the FIA and the stewards to decide whether they want to change the regulations, as they recently suggested, to avoid further similar controversies. Until that happens, it is fair to say that drivers like Verstappen will try and take as much advantage as they can of the grey areas that exist in the stewards’ rule book.
