Is Lando Norris in contention for the world championship? The answer was given by Max Verstappen with his desperate lunge at Turn 8, ten laps after the Mexico City Grand Prix.
If it had been any other driver, it is reasonable to assume that Verstappen would not have been blinded by the red fog and made the dangerous move. He didn’t want Norris to win, a result that would have cost more vital points.
It is clearly not the case that he harbors a natural hatred of the Briton that forces him to resort to base tactics to defeat him. It is that he sees Norris as the only possible rival for his crown.
He showed Lewis Hamilton the same ‘respect’ when they were locked in battle three years ago, ending in the dark Abu Dhabi controversy after several on-track brawls.
Of course, it will be difficult for Norris from 47 points back with 120 points left.
Is Lando Norris in contention for the world championship? The answer was given by Max Verstappen with his desperate lunge in Turn 8
If it had been any other driver, it is reasonable to assume that Verstappen would not have been blinded by red fog and made the dangerous move
It is clearly not the case that Verstappen has a natural hatred for the Briton that forces him to resort to base tactics to beat him.
Closing the deficit is unlikely to give him enough spoils in four races, starting in Brazil on Sunday, and two sprints to prevail. He probably needs a DNF to overcome Verstappen, but the cliff is not insurmountable.
In 2007, Kimi Raikonnen successfully came back from a 17-point deficit – the equivalent of 43 under the current scoring system – in the space of two races.
But it must be said that the odds are heavily in Verstappen’s favor.
The most relevant question is how they will all race from now on. Every driver believes that they are largely right when they honk their horn. The urge in Britain is to back Norris and portray Verstappen as a Schumacher-like villain.
It’s more complex than that, it’s Formula 1. The fact is that the rules – or rather guidelines – are too rigid. By trying to ban certain overtaking methods, loopholes in the law can be exploited.
There is little room for interpretation. The stewards cannot infer intent based on the evidence from their own eyes in every inevitably nuanced situation.
That intuitive judgment is what the guidelines should abolish. But look where that got us.
The car that reaches the top before us is preferred, and almost free from disapproval. That is why Verstappen received no penalty in Austin when the pair collided in Turn 12.
He showed Lewis Hamilton the same ‘respect’ when they were in contention three years ago
The urge in Britain is to back Norris and portray Verstappen as a Schumacher-like villain
Instead, Norris was given a five-second time penalty for overtaking outside the circuit because he had somewhere legal to go (or had not left himself).
It is also why Verstappen was penalized for the Turn 4 incident on Sunday, when Norris arrived before the apex.
As for the battle in Turn 8, Verstappen acted as an act of desperation. There’s no argument against the second of his 10-second penalties. No one in their right mind – including the perpetrator himself or his Red Bull boss Christian Horner – denies that.
What Horner did dispute, however, was the Turn 4 incident, a few corners earlier on that eventful lap 10.
He appeared in Mexico for his post-race media briefing with GPS tracks on a stretch of A4, showing how the McLaren man braked later in that corner on the lap in question than on his fastest lap.
He argued that Norris was gaming the system, albeit within the guidelines.
He said Norris did everything he could on the outside to reach the top first, even though he knew he would never be able to get around the corner. Officially, the law would be on his side.
“It used to be a reward for the bravest to go around the outside,” Horner said.
‘We are in danger of turning overtaking laws on their head, with drivers just trying to get their noses in front at the apex and then claiming they should be given space at the exit.’
No one in their right mind – including Verstappen himself or his Red Bull boss Christian Horner – denies the second of his 10-second penalties on Sunday
McLaren boss Andrea Stella: ‘Lando likes, approves and confirms the way you are going to race’
Norris, who finished second to Verstappen’s sixth, was praised by his McLaren boss Andrea Stella. “Our conversations and internal assessments have always been very clear: Lando we like, approve and confirm the way you are going to race,” said the Italian.
‘It is not up to you to find justice for yourself. That’s where the stewarding will say whether maneuvers are fair or not.
‘Don’t be desperate, you don’t have to prove anything.’
