The FIA stewards have amended their ruling regarding Max Verstappen’s penalties from the recent Mexican Grand Prix, resulting in the addition of two penalty points to his record.
Initially, Max Verstappen avoided penalty points for two separate incidents involving Lando Norris during the race. However, the stewards re-evaluated their decision concerning the incident at Turn 4, leading to the revised ruling. This change has now placed Max Verstappen at six penalty points for the current 12-month period. Drivers who accumulate 12 points face an automatic race ban, as seen with Kevin Magnussen earlier this year.
The clashes between Norris and Verstappen occurred on the tenth lap while they were battling for second place. The first incident unfolded as Norris attempted to overtake Verstappen on the outside approaching Turn 4. Verstappen braked deep into the corner, which forced Norris off the track.
Norris managed to re-enter the race in the lead after passing both Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. off-track. While he immediately allowed Sainz to regain his position, he did not do the same for Verstappen.
Verstappen then attempted to overtake Norris again at Turn 7, but he ran wide, causing both drivers to rejoin the track behind Charles Leclerc. The stewards deemed Verstappen at fault for both incidents, imposing a 10-second time penalty for each. As a result, he had to wait 20 seconds during his pit stop before his team could change his tires.
In their ruling on the Turn 4 incident, the stewards cleared Norris of any wrongdoing, stating that he made his move “in a safe and controlled manner” and that he would have completed the maneuver legally had Verstappen not forced him off the track. They noted that Norris cut the corner but immediately relinquished the position he gained to Sainz, which aligned with standard penalty protocols.
Despite determining that Verstappen had forced another driver off the track, the stewards initially did not assign him any penalty-points. However, they later revised this decision, adding the two points.
Additionally, while the stewards attributed fault to Verstappen in the second incident, they chose not to issue any penalty points. They clarified that they did not believe Verstappen had intentionally forced Norris off the track, describing the situation as “incidental.”
The stewards’ report noted, “Following the incident at Turn 4, Verstappen attempted to pass Norris on the inside at Turn-8. Verstappen was ahead at the apex of Turn 8 and would have been entitled to racing room. However, he was unable to complete maneuver on track, left track, and gained a lasting advantage, incidentally forcing Norris off.”
As the season progresses, the implications of Verstappen’s growing penalty point tally will be closely monitored, particularly as the championship race intensifies.
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