Christian Horner has added insult to injury for Lando Norris, insisting that the McLaren star would have had the pace to overtake Max Verstappen again if he had given the place back following his off-track manoeuvre on lap 53.
The Brit closed in on Verstappen at a rate of knots after strapping on new hard compound tyres with a significant offset to his rival, but when he finally got past his championship rival, he did so by overtaking outside of the track limits.
Norris’ argument was that Verstappen forced him off – both drivers ended up outside of the white lines that mark the track limits – and that he wasn’t going to make the corner having out-braked himself. He therefore scampered off up the road and refused to give the place back.
This was reviewed by the stewards and Norris was punished, picking up a five-second time penalty for ‘leaving the track and gaining an advantage’. He finished four seconds clear, meaning at the chequered flag he dropped behind Verstappen in the classification.
According to Red Bull team principal Horner, Norris had another option. “What I perhaps didn’t understand was it was clear there was going to be a penalty, or it looked pretty clear there was going to be a penalty,” he explained.
“With the car advantage and tyre advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race, it looked like he went to give the place back up at Turn One. But there was some confusion there. If he’d have given the place back immediately, he would have probably had enough pace to make the pass.”
Norris didn’t quite agree with Horner’s theory when asked whether the team should have told him to swap back with Verstappen immediately. “It’s impossible to know,” he told Sky Sports F1 when asked.
“They obviously can’t make their minds up for a few laps. It’s obviously not an easy decision otherwise it would have come a bit sooner. I tried. He also went off the track, so if he goes off the track clearly he’s gone in way too hard and also gained an advantage by doing what he did.”
Norris now faces an uphill battle to claim a maiden Drivers’ Championship crown. The Brit trails Verstappen by 57 points with five races remaining and with Ferrari taking a major leap forwards in Austin, there is no guarantee that he will return to winning ways before the end of the campaign.
