Max Verstappen ‘foul’ on Lando Norris ‘rewarded’ by US Grand Prix stewards according to Ferrari hero

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Charles Leclerc won the United States Grand Prix but the bigger story unfolded behind as Lando Norris received a ‘scandalous’ time penalty for overtaking Max Verstappen.

The stewards at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday have angered Ferrari hero Jean Alesi. Norris received a five-second time penalty in the US Grand Prix which cost him third place to Verstappen. The stewards ruled that the McLaren driver had overtaken his rival off the track.

But Alesi believes the stewards actually ‘rewarded’ Verstappen for dirty driving by penalising Norris. He further argues the Briton did not gain an advantage by being run off the circuit by the Dutchman, with Verstappen effectively getting away with breaking the rules to retain P3.

US Grand Prix stewards ‘rewarded’ Max Verstappen’s ‘foul’ with Lando Norris’ penalty

Verstappen, at the very least, pushed the boundaries of F1’s rules right from the start of the US Grand Prix to try to prevent pole-sitter Norris from taking any points out of the 27-year-old’s championship lead. The Red Bull racer now holds a 57-point lead with five rounds left.

Norris might have done more to defend the inside line from Verstappen at Turn 1, where the Dutchman exceeded track limits by forcing the Briton off the circuit and even down to fourth place. The three-time champion again pushed the boundaries in their major Lap 52 incident.

READ MORE: The five worst moments of Max Verstappen’s career in Formula 1

After briefly losing third place as Norris breezed past Verstappen with DRS, the Red Bull star eased off his brake to run them both off the circuit. Feeling that he had completed the pass, Norris and McLaren kept the position, but the stewards felt it merited a five-second penalty.

Alesi is adamant that the stewards had zero ground to give Norris a penalty at the US Grand Prix given Verstappen was actually the racer in the wrong. So, by penalising the 24-year-old, the stewards effectively ‘rewarded’ the Dutchman after a foul as it returned him third place.

“Behind [the Ferraris were] many spectacular duels and a scandalous race direction,” Alesi told Corriere della Sera. “Especially towards Norris. Okay, at the start Verstappen may have tried to get in front without the intention of damaging the others, with cold brakes to boot.

“But the penalty to Lando at the end is inexplicable. Max avoids turning at the moment in which he is overtaken. It is he who takes the McLaren off the track, exiting with four wheels in turn. Where did the Englishman ‘take advantage’? It is not known.

“The advantage was Max with an extreme defence, foul and moreover rewarded. I think the rules should be applied always and for everyone. Otherwise, those who drive for the pleasure of those who watch should be left free.”

George Russell was penalised for less than Max Verstappen got away with at COTA

The stewards opting to penalise Norris for passing Verstappen off the circuit also becomes even more perplexing given they slapped Mercedes driver George Russell with a five-second time penalty for forcing Sauber star Valtteri Bottas off-track with a clean overtake at Turn 12.

Unlike Verstappen into the same corner when the Red Bull racer simply refused to accept he had lost third place to Norris, Russell stayed within the track’s limits as Bottas tried in vain to hold on around the Briton’s outside. The Sauber star was even always set to run out of road.

Had Verstappen kept his RB20 on the road, there would have been no question about Norris overtaking the Red Bull racer off the track. Instead, the stewards let the Dutchman get away with dirty driving. Yet McLaren might feel they should have told Norris to yield and try again.