FIA’s Reference to ‘Driving Standards Guidelines’ in Lando Norris Penalty Verdict Births New Mystery

A desperate Lando Norris made a bold move in the closing stages of the 2024 United States GP, to get past his championship rival Max Verstappen. However, the stewards felt Norris was being naughty, and penalized him, which gave Verstappen a huge advantage. A few days later, fresh news revealed by Ted Kravitz has raised more questions than answers.

Kravitz — an F1 expert with reliable inside information — spilled the beans on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, revealing what the FIA made of Norris’ incident with Verstappen.

Niels Wittich, the FIA race director that afternoon told the stewards, “Lando left the track and gained a lasting advantage… He was overtaking Max on the outside, but was not level with Max at the apex,” as read by Kravitz.

So far, the explanation seemed fairly straightforward. That was until Kravitz quoted Wittich talking about ‘Driving Standards Guidelines’ which Norris apparently failed to follow. Kravitz, who has been with F1 for over two decades, had no idea what that meant.

How was Lando Norris’ penalty actually decided? pic.twitter.com/2kxWYkZ6uz

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 22, 2024

The Sky Sports presenter insisted that he didn’t know what they were, who wrote these guidelines, or how they were used in the context. Even the other hosts on the show — Matt Baker and Tom McCluskey — wondered what the ‘Driving Standards Guidelines’ were.

To add to the controversy, Kravitz also pointed out that if Wittich had gone ahead with these guidelines, Norris would have received a ten-second penalty instead of just five. All this information, while not directly transmitted live during the race, could now lead to more doubts.

Norris DOES get a 5-second penalty for the incident with Verstappen

The Dutchman takes the final podium place to extend his championship lead with Norris finishing fourth #F1 #USGP

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 20, 2024

Kravitz ended by reading out that the stewards had decided to punish Norris “independent of the FIA” and simply by following the ‘Driving Standards Guidelines’.

The five-second penalty Norris received dropped him from P3 to P4, further extending Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ Standings to 57 points. Time will tell whether McLaren and Norris appeal against the penalty or not.