The hidden victory McLaren scored as FIA rejected right of review for Lando Norris penalty

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McLaren were unsuccessful in their efforts to overturn Lando Norris’ recent penalty at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Norris lost third place in the United States last time out after a highly controversial incident with Max Verstappen.

On Thursday, McLaren formally requested a review. Under the rules, the stewards will only re-examine the incident if one of the parties involved can present new and compelling evidence.

A new camera angle emerged from Verstappen’s car, but the Austin officials didn’t feel McLaren’s appeal met the criteria. Thus the penalty is upheld.

Norris stood to win back three points if the sanction had been overturned. He’s currently 57 behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

Review requests are rarely successful, however. In 2021, Mercedes pushed for the Red Bull driver to be penalised over an incident with Lewis Hamilton at the Brazilian GP, but even though most drivers felt Verstappen was in the wrong, nothing came of it.

Earlier in the year, Christian Horner had pursued a harsher sanction for Hamilton after he collided with Verstappen on the first lap of the British GP. He initially received a 10-second penalty, and that was deemed appropriate.

Why McLaren’s right of review request was almost a ‘fishing exercise’

Speaking on the Autosport YouTube channel, journalist Alex Kalinauckas suggested McLaren may have had an ulterior motive. They never seemed optimistic that the call would be overturned.

However, they feel they have shed light on problems with the current rules. And this could lead to ‘changes down the line’.

McLaren feel Verstappen is ‘gaming’ the rules and want to close any loopholes. That would in theory prevent him from using his divisive tactics in the future.

“McLaren have tried to do this to get certain changes down the line,” Kalinauckas said. “Maybe they didn’t necessarily think this was going to lead to anything.

“What were they doing? It’s almost like a bit of a fishing exercise in a way. By getting the stewards to highlight the little problem in the international spotting code, while it looks like an overwhelmingly negative result, there’s a small win there.”

Paddock insider spots something unusual about F1 driver briefing at Mexican Grand Prix amid Max Verstappen fallout

There are signs that McLaren’s plan may already be working. They have fuelled an intense discourse in the F1 paddock over the rules of engagement.

The Mexican GP driver briefing was unusually long, Kalinauckas says, likely due to the ongoing debate around what happened in Austin. The stewards could soon be enforcing different guidelines.

Zak Brown wants F1 to revert to the 1980s approach of allowing drivers to ‘settle differences’ on track. But Martin Brundle has cautioned against that idea.

McLaren and Red Bull have become rivals off the track just as much as they have on it. The Woking outfit currently lead the constructors’ standings by 40 points.