Max Verstappen was slammed as “dangerous” and “ridiculous” for his driving at the Mexico City Grand Prix after his battle with a fed-up Lando Norris reached boiling point, with McLaren boss Zak Brown insisting “enough is enough”.
Exactly a week after a contentious fight in Austin where Norris was penalised, Verstappen was handed two 10-second penalties for his actions in wheel-to-wheel combat with the British driver in Mexico and eventually finished sixth, four places behind his title rival.
“He got what he had coming to him,” said Norris, who has now cut Verstappen’s title lead to 47 points with four rounds remaining.
Both of this Sunday’s incidents occurred on Lap 10, as Verstappen first forced Norris off at Turn Four – the McLaren crucially ahead at the apex before being left no room – and then dived up the inside of the high-speed Turn Eight when trying to regain second place, seeing both cars off the track, almost colliding.
“This guy is dangerous,” Norris complained on team radio afterwards. “I just had to avoid a crash, the same as last time. I’ll be in the wall in a minute.”
The stewards adjudged Verstappen to be in the wrong on both occasions, handing out two 10-second penalties – instead of the usual five seconds for racing incidents – which the Red Bull driver served in the pits to essentially drop him out of contention.
“(The penalties were) probably not enough,” McLaren CEO Brown told Sky Sports F1.
“I mean, it’s getting a bit ridiculous. I applaud the FIA stewards. Enough is enough. Let’s just have some good clean racing moving forwards.”
Carlos Sainz won the race, with Ferrari leapfrogging Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.
The view from Norris and McLaren: ‘Too far’
For McLaren, it was clear they felt Verstappen was finally adequately punished for what was, in Norris’ words, on “another level” to anything else he had seen racing the three-time world champion so far this season.
“The stewards did a good job this weekend,” added Brown, with the stewards set to meet with drivers in Qatar to discuss racing guidelines moving forward.
“I think the stewards are on it, I think that’s clear by the penalties that were given.”
Norris said immediately after the race that he “was ready to expect something like this” after the drama of the USA, and continued to Sky Sports F1: “I respect Max a lot in what he does, how he races, all of these things, and I look forward to having good battles with him.
“I want to have them; it makes me smile and it’s what I love about racing and why I kind of do it in a way. But things like today, it’s a bit too far. We both could be out of the race, and I don’t think that’s how you should race.
“Maybe some people will disagree and say I’m wrong but I think today was a step too far and I think Max will know that, I hope, and we can then go ahead to just have some more clean, fair battles because I look forward to them.”
He also explained how Verstappen’s – albeit weaker than pre-Sunday – title position affects his mentality.
“It doesn’t matter if he finishes first or second, he only wants to beat me. And he’ll sacrifice himself to do that,” he said. “He’s in a very powerful position, he’s a long way ahead with nothing to lose.”
The view from Verstappen and Red Bull: Penalties ‘dangerous territory’
While the usually combative – on and off-track – Verstappen was certainly surprised on team radio when told of his penalties, he didn’t offer much of a defence when asked about the incident post-race.
“The problem is, when you’re slower, you’re being put into those kind of positions. I’m not going to give up easily,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1switching the conversation to Red Bull’s lack of pace.
“At the end of the day it’s also not about agreeing or disagreeing with the penalties – the only thing is 20 seconds is quite a lot – but the biggest problem of today and also what I worry about is the race pace. It was really not good and is something we need to analyse. Even without those penalties, we had no chance at all to fight at the front.
“I’m not worried (about the title). This was a really bad race for us but I also know we can do much better than this so we’ll just keep going at it.”
Team boss Christian Horner also didn’t get into the specifics of the penalties, but did say such harsh consequences set a “dangerous” precedent moving forwards.
“The problem is, I think we’re going to get into very dangerous territory of, at what point is a dive bomb going to be OK?
“I think, really, the FIA and the drivers need to sit down and decide what is acceptable and what isn’t. I thought two 10-second (penalties) was a bit on the harsh side today.
“You’ve always got to play to the rules. We’ll look and learn from this race, but more for us today was that we just didn’t have the pace. That’s where our focus will be in the next five days.”
Brundle: ‘Outrageous’ Verstappen ‘way past the limit’
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle on Verstappen vs Norris in Mexico:
“That was outrageous. (The Turn 8 incident) is just a red mist moment, and actually a ridiculous moment. He took the pair of them off, and he was lucky he didn’t get a drive-through penalty or something.
“I’m so in awe of Max, and I hate it when he does that sort of thing. He’s better than that. He’s too good.
“I think he’s carrying frustration because he’s got the third fastest car at the moment. We know he’s feisty, and we know he’s aggressive – and that’s what you want, we’re about that – but there is a limit. That second incident was way past the limit.
“If he keeps getting penalties, he’ll have to tame it.”
Formula 1’s Americas triple header concludes this weekend with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
