Martin Brundle raises new questions over Max Verstappen in FIA penalty verdict

Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle has questioned why Max Verstappen was not punished for running Lando Norris off track during their battle at the United States Grand Prix.

It comes after George Russell, the Mercedes driver, was penalised for a similar incident with Valtteri Bottas in Austin, Texas.

Martin Brundle questions Max Verstappen role in Lando Norris penalty

Norris was hit with a five-second penalty at the Circuit of The Americas for running off track and gaining an advantage while fighting Red Bull driver and F1 2024 title rival Verstappen for third place.

The McLaren driver launched a move around the outside of Verstappen at Turn 12 on Lap 52 of 56, completing the pass after taking to the run-off area on the exit of the corner.

Norris asked the McLaren pit wall to check if his overtake was legal, with the pit wall reassuring him that he was “ahead at the apex” of the corner.

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However, Norris’s joy turned to disappointment at the chequered flag as five seconds were added to his race time, demoting him to fourth behind Verstappen.

The penalty represented a blow to Norris’s World Championship hopes, with the 24-year-old trailing Verstappen by 57 points with just five races remaining of the F1 2024 season.

And it came after some accused Verstappen of pushing Norris off the track at Turn 1 on the opening lap, allowing eventual winner Charles Leclerc to storm into the lead.

The decision to penalise Norris has provoked much debate, with Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, accusing the FIA stewards of “interfering with a beautiful piece of motorsport” by slapping Norris with an “inappropriate” punishment.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner, meanwhile, was unmoved, insisting it was “very much a black-and-white scenario” with Norris’s penalty a “slam dunk” after Verstappen himself was denied a podium by a five-second penalty – also earned for overtaking another driver, in that case Kimi Raikkonen, off the track – at the same venue in 2017.

Russell was given a controversial five-second penalty earlier in the race, with the stewards judging that the Mercedes driver had forced Bottas off the track on the exit of Turn 12.

And, writing in his post-race Sky F1 column, Brundle has asked why Verstappen wasn’t hit with the same punishment as Norris’s car was ahead as the pair entered the braking zone.

He said: “I don’t know what happened to the ‘let them race’ approach from a while back which worked reasonably well.

“As far as I’m concerned, if you pass a car on the inside of a corner, while remaining under control and not locked up, and keeping within the track confines, then you have won the corner and can take the normal racing line through the exit, and it’s up to the driver who has been passed to yield, not to hit the throttle and inevitably run wide.

“George Russell took an unreasonable penalty for this in Austin because the guidelines had to be applied. As have others.

“If Russell was penalised for running Valtteri Bottas wide, shouldn’t Verstappen have been penalised for running Norris wide at the same corner?

“And here’s another question: given Norris had passed Verstappen down the outside before Turn 12, when Verstappen sailed back up the inside, who was actually doing the overtaking at the corner apex, Verstappen or Norris?”

Brundle went on to call for a rethink to F1’s rules, with the current F1 Driving Standards Guidelines only “dissuading overtaking, especially around the outside” of corners.

He explained: “As far as I’m concerned, the six-page Guidelines (therefore not regulations), which have been signed off by the FIA, the drivers’ association (GPDA), and the teams, are a blueprint to dissuade overtaking, especially around the outside.

“There are key reference points that are hard to define for both drivers and stewards, such as where exactly is the apex of any given corner across the entire width of the track, along with specific front axle and car mirror positions in a fast-moving event such as a racing overtake.

“The stewards are under pressure to make speedy decisions so that penalties can be applied, positions quickly handed back, and teams and drivers know where they stand, not to mention fans and broadcasters, especially if a pit stop is imminent where a penalty needs to be applied.

“Furthermore, where podium positions are concerned, especially close to the end of the race, there’s even more pressure to make a fast call as it’s not desirable to have drivers removed from the podium post-race as we’ve witnessed in Austin and Mexico before.

“Or indeed changing the result long after the fans have left the venue or switched off their devices.

“Perhaps that’s a price worth paying if the drivers and teams are allowed to make their considered cases post-race, and the stewards can have more time to think and reflect before making a decision.

“The circuit layouts and run-offs create the problems, and the ever more complex driving rules fail to manage all of the inevitable and varied issues.

“Don’t simply blame the referees, that’s not fair and won’t solve the problem. The driving guidelines need a serious tweak, and much simplification.”

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