The FIA have come to the conclusion that there is no new evidence regarding the incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix. As a result, McLaren have lost their ‘Right of Review’ appeal, and the stewards will not look into it.
Stewards rule on McLaren’s ‘Right to Review’
In the final few laps in Austin, Texas, Norris was chasing down Verstappen thanks to having much fresher tyres. However, some perfect defending from the Dutchman meant the Brit could not make a move. As Norris got closer and closer as the laps ticked down, he finally looked for a move at turn 12 of the Circuit of The Americas. However, as we have seen many times before from Verstappen, he made the apex of the corner first, making it his corner. He then used all the track to push Norris wide, meaning he could only overtake outside the track and was given a penalty as a result.
The papaya-coloured Formula 1 team disagreed with the penalty Norris received for overtaking Verstappen off the track, but initially, team boss Andrea Stella indicated there were no plans to file a protest. However, the ‘Right of Review’ was still invoked.
As a result, the review was discussed on Friday in a meeting between the stewards at the United States Grand Prix, along with representatives of Red Bull and McLaren. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, already expressed little confidence in an advantageous outcome for his tea, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also saw little chance of success for his rivals.
The suspicions from both of them proved to be justified, as the stewards saw insufficient evidence to revisit the incident. As a result, there will be no change to the penalty that Norris received, and there will be no change to the final standings, meaning Verstappen keeps hold of his third place, and Norris stays in P4.
