Max Verstappen took a cheeky jab at McLaren after the United States Grand Prix, professing that the Woking-based team ‘complain about a lot lately’ after Lando Norris was hit with a controversial five-second time penalty.
Norris and Verstappen shared a titanic battle during the closing stages of Sunday’s race at the Circuit of the Americas with the two converging on track during the closing stages. After several unsuccessful attempts, the Brit launched a move around the outside at Turn 12.
Matching his rival’s aggression, Verstappen drove deep into the corner to reach the apex first, causing both cars to run over the track limits on exit. Norris used this as an opportunity to scythe around the outside, taking the place.
The stewards quickly launched an investigation and despite Norris insisting that Verstappen wasn’t going to make the corner and shoved them both off, the 24-year-old picked up a five-second time penalty. This ultimately cost him a spot on the podium, and costly points in the title battle.
“No, I don’t,” Verstappen said when asked if he had sympathy for McLaren’s arguments against the penalty. “I mean, they complain about a lot lately anyway, but it’s very clear in the rules.
“Outside the white line, you cannot pass. I’ve been done for it as well in the past. I think it’s quite clear: you can’t overtake outside of the white line. I mean, I got done for it also here in, I think, 2017 or whatever it was.
“I lost my podium like that. I just remained calm, tried to do the best I could after that to bring the car to the end because it was not easy with the tires and the situation that I was in. But overall, I still really enjoyed that battle that we had.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was seething with the stewards’ verdict. “My view is that the way that the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate because both cars were off track, so both cars gained an advantage,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“It’s a shame because it cost us a podium. It cost us a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off in the first lap at the first corner. We accepted it. Having said very clearly our position, this kind of decision by the stewards cannot be appealed. For us, the chapter is now closed and we now move on from the race.”
