Why both sides could demand reviews of Verstappen’s Mexican GP penalties · RaceFans

McLaren refused to take Lando Norris’ United States Grand Prix penalty lying down last week. They attempted to force the stewards to review their decision, but failed.

On race day, it was the turn of Norris’ championship rival Max Verstappen to feel the stewards’ wrath. He copped a penalty four times greater than the McLaren driver’s Austin sanction.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team were just as dismissive of the stewards’ decision as McLaren were a week earlier. But in this case, the Right of Review process appears to offer Red Bull less incentive to raise an objection than McLaren had in Austin. Indeed, McLaren may be the ones with most to gain from re-litigating last weekend’s race.

This has more to do with the timing of the penalties than what the drivers did on the track. The stewards handed Verstappen his pair of 10-second penalties early in Sunday’s race and he served them at his pit stop, so they cannot be undone. But Norris’ infringement occured much later in the United States Grand Prix, his penalty was added to his total race time, so it could have been cancelled out.

That doesn’t mean Red Bull have nothing to gain. The stewards gave Verstappen two penalty points on his licence for the clash with Norris at turn four, which means he is now halfway to an automatic ban. He will drop two after this weekend, but Verstappen knows he will have to keep getting his elbows out over the remaining five races (including sprint events), and being as far away from a ban as possible will give him more freedom to do as he likes without fear of the consequence.

Verstappen’s combined 20-second penalty is the second-largest any driver has received in a grand prix this year, after Kevin Magnussen’s double sanction in the Miami Grand Prix. So it may seem paradoxical to suggest McLaren might entertain the possibility of getting an even harsher one.

But this is where the specifics of the cases matter. One decision issued by the stewards on Sunday appears to present an opportunity for McLaren to push for a tougher penalty.

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McLaren are likely to be most satisfied with the stewards’ first ruling, regarding the initial incident at turn four. This was the decision issued and later recalled and revised by the stewards, after realising they originally failed to hand Verstappen any penalty points.

In this case, the stewards ruled Verstappen forced Norris off the track. Prior to Austin, this infringement typically resulted in drivers being given penalty points. In the various Austin cases the stewards cited mitigating factors for issuing less severe sanctions and no accompanying penalty points. The decision to give Verstappen penalty points therefore appears to be consistent with past decisions.

However regarding the second infringement, at turns seven and eight, the stewards ruled only that Verstappen had “left the track and gained an advantage.” He went off at turn seven, passing Norris as he did so, while sending both of them so far off track each was passed by Charles Leclerc.

The stewards stated Verstappen “left the track and kept the lasting advantage gaining the position, incidently [sic] forcing Norris off the track.” McLaren would appear to have good grounds to challenge the view Verstappen forced Norris off “incidentally” rather than intentionally. He launched his RB20 down the inside of the MCL38 from such a distance, speed and trajectory that it is remarkable Norris saw him in time to avoid contact.

If McLaren can persuade the stewards Verstappen’s offence was worse than they originally ruled, the potential exists for a stiffer penalty. A larger time drop could cost Verstappen more points by dropping him further down the classification behind Magnussen and even Oscar Piastri – the latter bringing McLaren an added boost in the constructors’ standings. More penalty points would increase the pressure on Verstappen to tread carefully over the remaining races.

Of course, to do this McLaren would have to satisfy the same requirement they failed to meet last week. In order for a review to take place they must present “a significant and relevant new element […] which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned.”

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Following Sunday’s race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner showed journalists telemetry data which he claimed was proof Verstappen did not force Norris off at turn four. It seems unlikely Red Bull could use this to push for a review as the stewards noted they consulted “positioning/marshalling system data” when making that decision. This doesn’t necessarily mean Red Bull won’t try, or might have some other new information at their disposal.

However regarding the incident at turn seven, the stewards made no mention of consulting the same data. This decision was based on video footage alone. McLaren may therefore see the opportunity to demand a review, citing data from Verstappen’s car as evidence, to show he forced Norris off the track not “incidentally”, but intentionally, and therefore deserves a harsher penalty.

As the championship fight between the two teams intensifies, would McLaren really go to the extraordinary step of making a Right of Review request in order to get a harsher penalty for a rival? We already know their rivals would do the same, because they did, following Verstappen’s collision with Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 British Grand Prix (they did not succeed).

McLaren will be well aware that the chance of them earning a tougher penalty for Verstappen are low. But they may consider it a useful way to keep the pressure up on their rivals and focus more attention on what they believe is the intention of Verstappen’s defensive tactics, namely to delay Norris even at the expense of his own race, which he arguably achieved last weekend despite his penalties.

At this stage in the championship, both sides will pounce on every opportunity to gain an advantage. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility we could see the unprecedented situation of both teams demanding reviews seeking opposite outcomes, each reasoning that the other side will raise an objection, so they must make their case.

The clock is ticking down for the teams to make their moves. Are the championship contenders about to have another off-track face-off? We should know soon after 9pm in Sao Paulo tomorrow.

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