Lando Norris and Max Verstappen engaged in a heated battle for P3 at the US GP. With Norris overtaking Verstappen at one point by leaving the track, the stewards gave him a five-second time penalty for gaining an unfair advantage over the Dutchman. There was a lot of speculation behind the reasoning for the penalty, and Valtteri Bottas, despite not being anywhere near the two drivers during the incident, knows why.
The penalty decision is made by stewards, who keep tabs on what is going out on the track in real-time. So, it is a human sitting behind the scenes making judgment calls based on a rulebook kept in front of him or her.
However, if the person making the call changes every weekend, then the decision-making would also be inconsistent—at least that is what Bottas thinks. As reported by Motorsport Total, the former Mercedes driver said, “As long as there are different stewards, there will be different opinions.”
Bottas knows exactly what is allowed and what is not. He also admits, however: “It’s not always black and white. Every incident or overtaking maneuver on a track is different. As long as there are different stewards, there will be different opinions.”
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Talking about one on one racing, and its repercussions in modern-day F1, Bottas added, “For me, the matter is clear. It has always been pretty clear. It’s just that some drivers are pushing the limits of the regulations more and more.”
At the US GP, that is what happened. Norris was getting closer and closer to Verstappen towards the end of the race and had a clear opportunity to pass the Dutchman. Verstappen, being as aggressive as he normally is, squeezed him towards the edge of the track, which Norris exited and then passed to get ahead of the Dutchman.
What the FIA thought of Norris vs Verstappen
The FIA does not directly hand out penalties to drivers, but the race director remains in touch with the stewards to oversee proceedings. Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz revealed that the race director for the afternoon in Austin, Niels Wittich, referred to some ‘Driving Standard Guidelines’ while passing notes down to the officials’ room.
What these guidelines were about, Kravitz didn’t know. But it was clear that Wittich and the officials were certain that Norris had gained an unfair advantage by passing Verstappen off the track to take P3.
A controversial revelation made by Kravitz also suggested that the guidelines initially called for a 10-second time penalty for Norris. However, Wittich recommended five seconds. On what basis that decision was made remains unknown.
Norris had crossed the finish line in P3 that afternoon, but because of his penalty, he dropped back to fourth. The gap to Verstappen at the start of the race, which was at 54, went up to 57 as a result.
