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'Verstappen's penalties were way too big, the FIA need to be consistent'
Former F1 driver Giedo van de Garde believes that Max Verstappen's time penalties at the Mexican Grand Prix were just "way too big" and 'were not consistent'. It's been the biggest taking point in F1 after the Grands Prix in both the United States and Mexico brought about issues with racing, with both incidents involved Verstappen and title rival Lando Norris .
For the umpteenth time in 2024, Verstappen and Norris clashed on track, now clashing twice in two races since the month-long autumn break. In the closing stages of the United States Grand Prix , a charging Norris was looking to overtake Verstappen, and he did so, but off the track. This was because the Dutchman was able to get to the apex first, according to the FIA , allowing him to use all the track available to force Norris off the track and overtake, resulting in a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage off track.
A week later in Mexico, on lap 11 of the Grand Prix, Norris was pushed off the track again by Verstappen, but this time, the FIA saw the Red Bull driver in the wrong, giving him a ten-second time penalty for forcing a car off the track. Norris cut the corner and then came back onto the track in front of Verstappen after this incident, but just three corners later, the Dutchman barreled up the inside to regain his spot, but came in way too hard on the inside of the corner, sending both drivers off the track.
Van de Garde critical of the stewards
Again, the FIA found Verstappen to be in the wrong, which was a lot clearer the second time around, resulting in another ten-second time penalty, a total of 20 seconds worth of penalties. Van de Garde does not deny that the penalties were unjustified, he reveals in the 'DRS: The Race Show podcast' , but he was unhappy with the inconsistency from the FIA stewards: 'Quite honestly, I think the penalty was just way too big . If they had been consistent they would not have given ten seconds but two times five seconds. Indeed, then it would have been exactly the same as Austin and there wouldn't be so much fuss about it now,' van de Garde said.
The hefty penalty from the stewards was supposed to be a signal that such driving behavior is really not acceptable, but Van de Garde continued on by saying he has his doubts about that approach,: 'I don't know if that's going to help right away. What if they (Verstappen and Norris) are near each other again soon then it will be hard against hard again anyway. It's about a world title! You only have a few races left, so it's just all-in,' concludes the former driver, outlining that it will have absolutely no impact on Verstappen.
This article was created in collaboration with Jarlo van der Vloed
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