What Karun Chandhok spotted in brand new camera angle from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris battle

Follow us on Google Discover

The controversial incident involving Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the closing stages of the United States Grand Prix is still on everyone’s mind as F1 heads to Mexico City.

Verstappen gained a huge boost in his quest to defend his title as he claimed his fourth Sprint race win of the year at the Circuit of the Americas, allowing him to extend his lead over Norris after the Brit fell behind Carlos Sainz to finish third on the final lap.

The Red Bull driver was engaged in another tense battle with his title rival in Sunday’s race, but neither had a response to the charging Ferraris as Charles Leclerc led Sainz to a one-two finish for the Maranello squad.

Towards the end of the race, Norris made a move on Verstappen at turn 12 – one of the best places to overtake in Austin given the long back straight that leads into the corner.

The Brit ran wide and got by the Dutchman and went on to finish third. However, Norris was controversially given a five-second time penalty after the race for passing Verstappen off the track, subsequently promoting Verstappen to third.

The result allowed the Red Bull driver to extend his lead in the championship further to 57 points with five races to go. But McLaren have lodged a right to appeal the decision against Norris, with Damon Hill saying the issue ‘should be interesting’ as the title fight could see a huge shift if the appeal is successful.

What Karun Chandhok saw from Max Verstappen’s onboard camera in his controversial incident with Lando Norris in Austin

Speaking on Sky Sports F1 before the first practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Karun Chandhok analysed the incident in Austin from a new angle that was not seen after the race.

McLaren’s chances of getting the penalty overturned are very slim, given that they have to provide the stewards with new evidence that has not been seen for it to be a success.

Norris is adamant that Verstappen did not intend to make the corner as they went through turn 12 and forced him off the track with nowhere to go. But Verstappen could only laugh at that statement in Mexico as he insisted that he was not looking for shortcuts.

Looking at the Dutchman’s onboard camera, Chandhok spotted that Norris was not fully ahead going into turn 12 and that Verstappen was aware of the regulations in place that allowed him to race to the apex without being penalised himself.

“Now let’s go onboard and just have a look. This is a new angle, we didn’t get to see Verstappen’s onboard last week, so this is a fresh angle we’ve got for this weekend,” said Chandhok.

“As they head down into the braking zone, Norris moves to the right, he’s on the outside. Now, Verstappen is clearly at this stage, Norris has got his nose in front but he’s not fully in front of Verstappen.

“I think at this stage, Verstappen comes off the brake pressure bit, to make sure he’s racing basically, to that apex. He’s trying to make sure he gets to that apex first and the reason he’s trying to do that is because he is acutely aware of the guidelines that the stewards use.”

Lando Norris must outscore Max Verstappen by 11.4 points each race to win the championship

With just five races to go and after the result at the United States Grand Prix, Norris has an even bigger mountain to climb if he wants to stop the defending three-time champion Verstappen from adding a fourth title.

The Brit will be handed a boost if the appeal against his Austin penalty is successful, but even if it is overturned – and that is highly unlikely – Norris will still have to rely on a poor result from Verstappen to get close enough to challenge for the title.

The fast nature of the Mexico City Grand Prix will favour the McLaren, but they will face competition from Ferrari who find themselves in great form, as well as Red Bull, who enjoyed a great result through Verstappen in Austin that was very much needed given their issues at previous races.

While Verstappen finds himself in a good position to defend his title, Red Bull are under pressure to retain theirs as McLaren still hold a 40-point lead over the Milton Keynes-based squad in the Constructors’ Championship heading into Mexico City.