Lando Norris penalty sparks discussion

Time to quit smoking

We will be turning off our bar for the time being. And of course, we'll be back with a new edition tomorrow morning, and we'll continue that for you Great video analysis on the Formula1.de YouTube channel.

Stefan Ihlen and Kevin Schuren have planned the following topics, among others:

-Summary and result
Verstappen vs Norris
-Russell's penalty kick is a “joke”
-Ferrari double win
– Hamilton's departure
-Questions from channel members

Enjoy your time with your colleagues, sleep well and see you later!

Wolf accuses commissioners of making biased decisions

It wasn't just Lando Norris' penalty that caused trouble today. Toto Wolff also does not agree at all with George Russell being penalized in the race. He accused the commissioners of making partisan decisions.

Russell received a five-second penalty in Austin for pushing Bottas off the track while overtaking at Turn 12. For Wolff, the decision was an “absolute joke”.

When he left after the race sky When asked about it, Wolff bristled: “It's inconsistent. It wasn't even a race against Valtteri. We've seen some of these incidents that were quite similar and there were no penalties, even though there was a real fight for the win.” Attitudes.”

You can find his full data here!

Okon apologizes

A little side note: we've already explained why the Alpine got the fastest lap from Franco Colapinto. Esteban Ocon has publicly apologized for this on social media.

“I feel sorry for Franco because he deserves it,” he wrote there. Next year, these games will end anyway, and then the bonus point will be cancelled.

Alonso: P13 is not surprising

The Spaniard started from seventh place, but finished only 13th, but he was not disappointed because: “The surprise was in qualifying.” DAZN. As for the eighth place he got there, it was “not normal.”

So he knew he would return to the “normal” mode of the Aston Martin during the race. It is currently outside the top ten.

“We lacked speed today compared to the other cars. I had a somewhat chaotic restart with a slide at Turn 10,” admits his teammate Stroll only finished 15th.

“But I think the result would have been the same even without that slide. The car didn't have the ability to do that [vordere] Positions to fight for,” Stroll confirms Alonso’s statement.

Vasseur: A double win is not a guarantee for Mexico

Ferrari's team boss explains that today's result is a “huge motivation for next week.” But he also warns: “Next week in Mexico it will be a completely different story.”

The altitude makes the Grand Prix “a unique, extra challenging race where you have to focus a lot on cooling,” explains Vasseur.

His conclusion: “Just because you're fast in Austin, doesn't mean you're fast in Mexico.” As far as the World Cup is concerned, they just want to take it race by race.

Sainz: Sometimes the rules are not entirely clear

The Spaniard explains that he has not yet watched the scene between Verstappen and Norris. But yesterday during the race he noticed again that some of the rules were not quite clear.

“Yesterday there was an example of Oscar overtaking. That was absolutely fine for me and very similar to everything we did in the sprint,” Sainz explains.

However, the Australian was punished on Saturday. “I felt that the punishment against Oscar yesterday was too harsh and did not follow the guidelines that I thought they were,” Sainz said.

By the way, his teammate also sees it that way. “I agree with Carlos about the penalty that Oscar received yesterday. I also think it was a bit harsh,” race winner Leclerc said.

Verstappen: They've already been punished for that

When asked, the Dutchman explained that he did not understand why people at McLaren were angry about the punishment. “You've been complaining a lot lately,” he shrugged.

“The rules are very clear: you are not allowed to overtake outside the white line, I have been punished for that in the past,” the world champion said.

“I think in 2017, or whenever it was, I got a podium finish [in Austin] Lost like that,” Verstappen recalls of a situation with Kimi Raikkonen.

But the difference is that at that time he was the only one on the side of the track. Today it was both pilots.

Schumacher: The punishment was not fair

Says expert Ralf Schumacher sky About the duel between Norris and Verstappen: “In my opinion, Verstappen got in. There was no room for Norris at that moment and he would have preferred to take a better position.”

“I think it's unfortunate. It was the race for me. Max tried everything, Lando tried everything. The penalty wasn't necessary for me. Lando is in front and Max was just driving which took him out as well.”

“He doesn't meet the track limits either,” Schumacher says of Verstappen, and thus stresses regarding the penalty: “I don't think it's fair.”

Wolff: 'A very low sporting point'

Toto Wolff adds that Mercedes “simply wasn't good” this weekend sky Together he explains: “There's definitely something in the car. Lewis Hamilton doesn't lose a Formula 1 car like that. He also said he didn't pay at all.”

“Then he took it upon himself, which shows his greatness, but it wasn't his fault,” Wolfe said emphatically. Overall, Austin was “one of the worst weekends” for Mercedes.

“Because we were the fastest ever on Friday and we lost everything yesterday,” he explains, adding that it was “a real low point in the sport.” “but [das] It makes us stronger,” he hopes.

Everything may look very different again next week in Mexico.

What's wrong with awards?

Funny side story: There were supposed to be very special awards from Pirelli this weekend. But completely different prizes were given out on the platform. What was happening there?

Our colleagues at the site have learned that the prizes were withdrawn by Pirelli because they looked too similar to another company's designs.

In order not to risk copyright infringement, the prizes have been withheld entirely. You may have noticed it earlier…

Hulkenberg: “A little flat, but happy”

Satisfying from a German perspective: 8th place for Nico Hulkenberg. “I'm a little tired. I'm not 100% physically this weekend, so I'm still a little tired, but I'm happy,” he said. sky.

“I had a very good feeling on the laps towards the grid. Somehow, everything seemed very smooth and good, and it was executed. I think we executed it well,” he said with satisfaction.

He reveals: “The stop was not planned, it was an option that we wanted to keep open. But the race conditions and the speed pushed us there, and this was the right way in the end.”

In this weekend's World Championship, Haas overtook the Racing Bulls and now has a two-point lead in the battle for sixth place.

Marco: “There are more and more rules coming”

Helmut Marko's racer probably wouldn't have awarded Norris a penalty either. reverse sky He explains: “There are more and more rules. Of course we insisted on our rights, he crossed the track.”

“It was a shame, because it was a really great duel, and Max in particular was great because he kept him at the back for so many laps. Only Max could do that because his front tires were already relatively in the corner,” Marko praised.

In general, he would also be in favor if the hosts showed a “different attitude” in the future and allowed the drivers to fight again.

In his opinion, the solution is to reduce asphalt flow areas. “If you are [neben der Strecke] “If you lose time, the whole fuss with the hosts stops. Is it an advantage or not?”

Justification in the literal sense

The FIA ​​has now also published the official document explaining the penalty imposed on Lando Norris. He says in full:

“Car No. 4 was overtaking Car No. 1 on the outside, but was not level with Car No. 1 at the apex. Therefore, under the driving standards guidelines, Car No. 4 lost the 'right' of the turn. Accordingly, Car No. 4 left the track and returned “Against the No. 1 car, it's like leaving the track and having a permanent advantage.”

“The 5-second penalty is imposed instead of the 10-second penalty recommended in the guidelines because after committing an overtaking movement on the outside, the driver of car 4 had no alternative but to leave the lane due to the proximity of car 1 which was so it left the lane.”

“In light of the above, we have determined that this will not count as a lane limit violation for car No. 4.”

In short: Norris was not yet Verstappen at the top of the curve. So it wasn't his curve.

In theory, a ten-second penalty could have been imposed, but this was waived as he had no other choice but to go off the track as Verstappen was also off the track.

For this reason, he was not charged with a track limits violation.

Norris: There is no consistency in decisions

And again the McLaren driver, who was also upset by the fact that, in his opinion, the decisions of the race stewards are not consistent. For similar actions, there is sometimes a penalty and sometimes not.

“I think that's completely at odds with what happened in Austria, where Max didn't get a penalty when he went off the track and got the advantage,” says Norris.

Additionally, race stewards made a hasty decision today. “They don't hear or understand our arguments about what they should do after the race,” Norris says angrily.

“They just want to make a decision at this stage so that points and podiums and things like that don't change,” he says. “That's why it's a hasty decision.”

NORRIS: Maybe I would have been able to

The Briton himself also spoke again about the duel with Verstappen and explained: “The incorrect point is what Max did – that is, defending his position by going off the track.”

Norris, who was on the outside alongside Verstappen, said: “He went off the track while defending and made a mistake and took advantage of it. At the same time, I had to go off the track for that reason.”

“There's no way people would know whether I could get to the track or not,” Norris said, so he believes that was not the case for the stewards. As is known, they saw it differently.

Stella: The hosts shouldn't interfere

McLaren team boss explains sky“I am of the opinion that the way the stewards intervened in this beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate because both cars went off the track.”

“So there was an advantage for both cars. Which is unfortunate because it cost us a podium. It cost us a race in which we remained patient. After we were pushed away on the first lap, in the first turn, we accepted it,” recalls Stella. .

But there is no possibility to protest the decision, which is why the team boss confirms: “For us, the chapter is now over and we move on to the next race.”

However, he clarifies again: “We double-checked that both cars were off the track. There was no doubt for us that the maneuver was correct.”