FIA stewards slam Max Verstappen with huge penalty after latest Norris clash

Just seven days after their feisty battle at the Circuit of The Americas, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris clashed again at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen, having taken the early lead from Carlos Sainz at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, was suddenly under extreme pressure after his battery emptied and was vulnerable to attack from Sainz and then title rival Norris.

FIA come down hard on Max Verstappen with Mexican Grand Prix penalties

Norris attacked Verstappen at Turn 4 but was once again forced off the track, the McLaren driver immediately calling out his Red Bull counterpart for what he felt was a “dangerous” move.

A second flashpoint then occurred between the pair, as Verstappen and Norris both took their battle off the track at Turn 8 and made contact.

But, unlike in the United States Grand Prix when Verstappen escaped with no action taken by the FIA stewards, it was a very different story in Mexico as the stewards hit the reigning World Champion with not one, but two penalties that were worth a whopping 20 seconds in total.

The first was a 10-second penalty for forcing Norris off the track and the second was another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Verstappen would serve his lengthy penalty when coming into the pits on lap 28.

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“10!? That’s quite impressive,” Max Verstappen said, when he learned of the first penalty.

Race engineer GianPiero Lambiase replied: “There was a lot of whinging. A lot.”

The latest tussle between Verstappen and Norris comes just a couple of days after a “lively” drivers’ meeting was held in Mexico to discuss the F1 racing rules for the future. It was reported that Verstappen and Norris were involved in “direct exchanges” with each other when revisiting their initial US Grand Prix clash.

Carlos Sainz would reveal further insight into the meeting after he clinched pole in emphatic fashion for the Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday.

“I think it was a positive, productive meeting,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com.

“I think a lot of drivers opened up about how they felt about each situation and what we think is the best way forward.

“Yeah, how you interpret the rules and those driving guidelines that the stewards are going to apply penalties with, they’re still the same coming into this weekend and probably I think they will be applied in a similar manner.

“But, yeah, I think moving forward it was a productive meeting and I think in Qatar we will have some solutions that hopefully will offer, I think, better understanding for the driver and better racing in general.

“Yeah, hopefully it should be better.”

Lando Norris would overcome his latest incident with Verstappen to finish second the podium in Mexico, while Verstappen recovered to P6.

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