How F1 steward Derek Warwick is privately feeling amid Lando Norris penalty backlash

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Lando Norris’ penalty for overtaking Max Verstappen off the track is one of the most controversial Formula 1 has seen in recent years. It came at the end of a gripping battle between the sport’s newest rivals.

Norris tried to pass Verstappen round the outside at turn 12 on lap 52. However, the Red Bull driver braked late to ‘claim’ the corner before running wide.

Inevitably, this forced the McLaren off the track too, but Norris drove past his title rival from the run-off. Overtaking off track is forbidden, but the legitimacy of Verstappen’s defensive tactics has been widely questioned.

In theory, he could have given the place back and then resumed his attack, avoiding a sanction. But Norris says he’d used up his tyre life by that point, and didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong.

Indeed, he agreed with his team over the radio that he was ‘ahead at the apex’ and therefore Verstappen should be treated as the overtaking car. This formed part of McLaren’s review request at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The very fact that the incident remains top of the headlines a week later shows just how divisive it has been. F1 drivers held an unusually long briefing in Mexico to discuss whether they needed to make any changes to their rules of engagement.

Derek Warwick ‘affected’ by reaction to Lando Norris penalty for Max Verstappen incident

One of the stewards on the panel in Austin was Derek Warwick. The Briton competed in 162 Grands Prix between 1981 and 1993, scoring four podiums and 71 points.

The US Grand Prix officials reconvened on Friday evening to hear McLaren’s case for a review. They rejected it on the basis that they didn’t provide new and compelling evidence.

Speaking from the media centre on the formule1.nl YouTube channel, journalist Andre Venema shared what Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert had told him about Warwick. The 70-year-old has apparently struggled with the backlash after penalising Norris.

“Martin Brundle said yesterday with Johnny Herbert that Derek Warwick was quite affected by everything that was written and said after the Grand Prix in America,” Venema revealed.

How McLaren scored a hidden victory in right of review request

Toto Wolff issued perhaps the most damning rebuke of the stewards last weekend. Addressing George Russell over the radio at the chequered, Wolff accused the stewards of ‘biased decision making’.

He was referring to the start of the race, when Verstappen tried to pass Norris on the inside, a move that resulted in both going off. But he felt the lap 52 clash highlighted a lack of consistency in their enforcement of the rules.

Russell had been penalised earlier in the race for forcing Valtteri Bottas off at the same corner. But with Verstappen in the ‘Russell role’, the driver on the outside was punished.

Zak Brown will welcome the lasting discourse. McLaren bagged a ‘small win’ over Red Bull even though their challenge failed, because the racing rules that Verstappen has cleverly exploited – like many great champions – could now be changed.