McLaren chief Andrea Stella was left seething after Lando Norris was penalised by the F1 stewards as he battle Max Verstappen for a place on the United States Grand Prix podium
Lando Norris accused Max Verstappen of defending “way too hard” after a last-gasp penalty further dented his title hopes in Austin.
Ferrari dominated proceedings at the Circuit of the Americas and Charles Leclerc secured his third win of the season from team-mate Carlos Sainz. But the blockbuster action came in the final 10 laps as title rivals Norris and Verstappen played out a thrilling duel for the final spot on the podium.
The Brit had the tyre advantage but the Red Bull racer defended vigorously for several laps until both appeared to go off track as Verstappen pushed the McLaren wide. Norris came back on ahead and was slapped with a penalty for the illegal overtake, which meant he dropped behind Verstappen despite finishing four seconds ahead on track.
And though he insisted he was “not going to complain about it”, he said: “Clearly, [Verstappen] has gone in way too hard and also gained an advantage by doing what he did, but I do not make the rules.
“It was pretty tight, Max went for a tight gap… he had obviously committed quite a bit which he has got the right to do. But, again, he went completely off track. He defends by going off track, he overtakes by going off track.”
Norris is now 57 points behind Verstappen with five rounds remaining. His boss Andrea Stella was seething with the penalty decision and fumed: “The way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate. Both cars went off track so both cars gained an advantage. It is a shame because it cost us a podium in a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off in the first corner.”
Verstappen defended his actions and claimed he was “understeering a lot and struggling with the braking”. He said: “It was a tough battle and I tried everything to keep him behind. Of course, at the end to be on the podium is, for us, a great result.”
Norris at least fared better than Lewis Hamilton who was the only driver to retire from the race. That came on just the second lap when he lost the rear end and buried his Mercedes in the gravel before apologising sheepishly over the radio.
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