McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella says his team thought that the FIA’s investigation of the Lando Norris/Max Verstappen incident in the closing stages of the US GP would lead to a penalty for the Red Bull driver.
The team didn’t ask Norris to give back the third position, but it did tell the following Oscar Piastri to be aware that Verstappen up ahead might be getting a time penalty for forcing the Englishman wide.
The team also opted not to pit Piastri to grab the extra fastest lap point that was then held by Franco Colapinto, so that he remained in touch with Verstappen.
However instead of Verstappen being punished the five-second penalty was handed to Norris, dropping him back to fourth in the final standings.
Stella was adamant that Verstappen should have been deemed at fault, if anyone.
“I think the defending car goes just straight at the apex,” he said. “We checked the video multiple times. It’s just going straight. It’s just going off-track, as much as Lando is doing, just giving no chance for Lando to complete the manoeuvre.
“If I were a journalist, I would have done a bit of statistics – how many times Max has used this way for defending? Both cars go off track. So I think both cars are gaining an advantage, if there’s an advantage gained.
“So for us, this manoeuvre was at the least neutral, but when I saw that there was an under investigation, I was pretty sure that was because Max pushed Lando off the track.
“And in fact, we told immediately Oscar, make sure you close five seconds on Max, because there could be a position at stake. So the interpretation of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is polar opposite.”
Like Norris himself Stella questioned the urgency to decide on a penalty. Without talking to the drivers, given the high stakes.
“I am surprised that the stewards didn’t even feel the need to discuss with the drivers after the race, it is an uncertain situation, get the opinion of the drivers, get the time to assess the situation with the level of details that is required when the situation is not so clear.
“So where is the urgency to interfere with the result of a race with a championship cause, just because you have to make the decision in 60 seconds? It’s a question mark that I think the stewards should take constructively, positively. Is it really needed to make a decision so quickly, and in our opinion, so wrongly?
“It’s just the fact that you defend by going off-track. This cannot be permissible.”
Regarding the decision not to give the place back he added: “Under my responsibility, but there was complete agreement by all the people involved in this interpretation, this situation did not need to be investigated.
“And once we saw and if anything, we thought the investigation should be for Max pushing Lando off the track. And that’s what we thought was going to happen when we saw that the case was under investigation. So for us, there was no need to give back the position because of the situation.”
Stella admitted that the team was also frustrated by the first corner, where Verstappen ran Norris wide, and the McLaren driver tumbled to fourth behind the Ferraris.
“We were a little upset by the manoeuvre in corner one, because not only Max gained the position, but it cost the complete exit for Lando, and therefore losing the positions on both Ferraris.
“At the same time, we sort of understood that the stewards might have applied the first lap mitigating circumstances, and we accepted it, because we always have respect for the difficulties that the stewards operate under, but they should have respect for their job as well.
“And when the case is so difficult, like Lando and Max, just take the time, review it after the race, hear from the drivers, try to understand the subtleties. So I think the first lap, first corner can be mitigated by the first lap interpretation. But I think this one for me is really difficult to understand, more than the one in the first lap.”
Stella countered the suggestion that Norris could be more aggressive in his encounters with Verstappen.
“I would not say that Lando is to be more aggressive,” he said. “I think anytime you have this kind of duel on track, you learn a little bit. But I don’t think Lando should change the fundamental way he goes on this kind of overtaking or defending manoeuvres.
“There’s some technicalities that possibly can be reviewed. But I think in this case, if it was in this lap, it could have been the next lap, Lando would have been successful in his manoeuvre.
“So I don’t think you need to change, become aggressive at the risk of not finishing the race. Obviously, Max has a lot of experience.
“We’re talking about a very, very capable driver. I’m not disrespecting this. Max is outstanding, and in this case, the message that McLaren are giving is that there was no need for the stewards to interfere with the situation or not under the urgency of deciding during the race.”
