Peter Windsor says it was ‘pretty clear’ how McLaren should’ve handled Lando Norris penalty

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It was a controversial end to the United States Grand Prix when Lando Norris overtook Max Verstappen off-track for the final podium spot.

Lando Norris was making use of a tyre offset against Max Verstappen when he piled pressure on the Dutchman in the closing stages of the race.

After several laps spent behind Verstappen, the McLaren driver finally got a good exit out of Turn 11 and could get a run on the Red Bull into Turn 12. As they went side-by-side, Verstappen took to the inside while Norris went around the outside.

Verstappen ran Norris to the edge of the track limits, causing him to run off the road. When he rejoined, Norris stayed ahead of the Red Bull prompting an investigation from the stewards.

They later deemed that Norris had left the track and gained an advantage and received a five-second penalty. Peter Windsor believes McLaren should have instructed Norris to do something when discussing the penalty on his YouTube channel.

McLaren should have told Lando Norris to give position back

Although the original tariff for this Norris’ off track offence is a 10-second time penalty, the stewards decided that a five-second was fairer as the Briton had nowhere else to go.

Karun Chandhok was left ‘confused’ over why McLaren did not instruct Norris to give the position back to Verstappen rather than risk a penalty. McLaren engineer Will Joseph argued that his driver was ahead at the apex, however the stewards deemed it was Verstappen that had the right to the corner.

Windsor feels McLaren should have erred on the side of caution and told Norris about the situation because the move was completed off track.

“It’s written in the rules, if you take advantage of being off track and pass another car, that is a penalty situation,” said Windsor.

“Because that is there and everything else is grey, it was pretty clear in my mind what McLaren should’ve told Lando to do. But overall, I just wish they would let them race.”

Andrea Stella furious over ‘inappropriate’ stewards intervention

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella felt the stewards wrongfully intervened in the battle between Norris and Verstappen, believing the pair should have been free to race.

Wolff was also unhappy with the treatment for his driver, George Russell, after he was penalised for forcing Valtteri Bottas off track at the same corner.

Verstappen got away with two moves at Turn 12 that were of similar nature to Russell’s, while it was Norris who was penalised because of track limits.

The penalty for Norris meant he dropped behind Verstappen at the chequered flag to fourth and lost out on a potential three extra points.