F1 News
Stella explains: This is why Verstappen deserved a penalty in the US
- Ludo van Denderen
In the aftermath of The Incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, teams and their drivers kept referring to 'the rules'. These set out how drivers should react in different situations, for example when two cars are side by side in the apex of a corner. The big question then is: should the car on the inside leave enough space for the driver on the outside? Andrea Stella, McLaren's team boss, interprets the rules to mean that the answer to that question must be 'yes'.
In other words - and the Italian has said this on several occasions - Max Verstappen deserved a time penalty at the US Grand Prix on Sunday, and not Lando Norris (McLaren). "There's various guidelines that can be invoked to help the interpretation of this case," Stella argued. "One of them is to leave enough space. I think had Verstappen negotiated the corner, Lando should have given back the position."
This is what Stella says about Verstappen's action
"But, Max at the apex there's no way he's thinking 'I can do this corner'. As a result, this defensive move is not allowed. That's what makes the manoeuvre not permissible and at the least this is neutral. If not, Max is disallowing the car on the outside to complete the manoeuvre because it's not possible for the car on the outside," Stella said.
In any case, the stewards ruled differently. Norris was handed a five-second penalty. According to the stewards, the Briton had overtaken outside the track. Ultimately, the penalty cost Norris third place in the US Grand Prix.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton