Karun Chandhok left ‘confused’ by McLaren’s plan with Lando Norris in US Grand Prix

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Lando Norris was embroiled in controversy at the end of the United States Grand Prix when he made an overtake on Max Verstappen in the closing stages and received a penalty.

The McLaren driver had already been involved in a skirmish with Verstappen at the start of the race when he lost the lead at the first corner and dropped behind both Ferraris.

McLaren then switched Norris to a one-stop strategy, enabling him to pit a few laps later than Verstappen and emerge on fresher tyres for the closing stages of the race.

Norris hunted Verstappen down and got close, before making a move in the final five laps after getting a good exit off Turn 11. As the pair went down the long straight into Turn 12, Norris took to the outside while Verstappen defended the inside line.

Verstappen ran Norris to the edge of the track limits causing him to run off, but the McLaren driver kept his foot in and took the place. Karun Chandhok has taken to social media website X (formerly Twitter) to question McLaren’s tactic after the move was made.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Karun Chandhok believes Norris should have given back position to Max Verstappen

The stewards investigated Norris and deemed that he left the track and gained an advantage by completing the move off-track, causing him to receive a five-second time penalty.

Norris ended up dropping behind Verstappen at the flag when the penalty was applied, but Chandhok believes he should have given it back earlier to avoid a penalty.

“Confused by the McLaren plan there with Lando at the end. The rule is clear that a driver is “not allowed to gain a lasting advantage” and getting ahead of another car is obviously ‘a lasting advantage’,” said Chandhok.

“Should have told Lando to give the place back and he could have re-passed.”

Lando Norris admitted he should have given the position back to Max Verstappen

Norris admitted that it was the wrong decision over team radio to keep the position from Verstappen when speaking to his team over the radio after the chequered flag.

“I guess I got a five-second penalty?” asked Norris, with engineer Will Joseph responding with: “Yeah for going off the track and gaining an advantage, not sure why.”

Norris came back with: “Well then I should’ve just got behind him them shouldn’t I?”

The move means Norris has lost another three points to Verstappen and a potential 14 points on offer including the fastest lap in the Grand Prix.