JUST IN : Lando Norris Penalized After Late Overtaking Incident with Max Verstappen at US Grand Prix
Lando Norris Penalized After Late Overtaking Incident with Max Verstappen at US Grand Prix
Lando Norris received a five-second penalty during the United States Grand Prix after a dramatic overtaking attempt on Max Verstappen. The McLaren driver made a move late in the race to overtake Verstappen but was judged by the stewards to have “lost the right to the corner” during the maneuver. As a result, Norris ended up finishing behind both Verstappen and eventual race winner Charles Leclerc.
The penalty was applied after Norris attempted to pass Verstappen on the outside, pushing hard to seize the lead. However, during the crucial moment at the corner apex, Norris was not fully alongside Verstappen’s car, which, according to the F1 Driving Standards Guidelines, meant that he had forfeited his right to the corner.
In the stewards’ official statement, they explained: “Car 4 [Norris] was overtaking Car 1 [Verstappen] on the outside, but was not level with Car 1 at the apex. Therefore under the Driving Standards Guidelines, Car 4 had lost the ‘right’ to the corner.”
This ruling left Norris with a five-second time penalty, which ultimately dropped him down the order. The decision has drawn some controversy among fans and commentators, but the stewards’ decision was based on well-established racing rules, which emphasize that a driver attempting to overtake must be level or ahead at the apex to claim the racing line.
This incident has further complicated Norris’s championship hopes, as he is now 57 points behind Verstappen with only five races remaining in the season. Despite a strong performance throughout the weekend, this penalty proved costly for the McLaren driver in his battle for the title.
The race itself was packed with action, but it was Charles Leclerc who took the checkered flag, claiming a crucial win for Ferrari. Norris and Verstappen’s on-track battle was one of the key highlights of the race, but it ended in disappointment for Norris after the stewards’ decision.
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