McLaren responds after the FIA dismiss the Norris vs Verstappen review
The penalty for Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix has not been reviewed after McLaren invoked the right of review. This is a way of providing new evidence to achieve a review of the penalty. Andrea Stella’s team provided an FIA document as new evidence.
McLaren’s ‘Right of Review’ has been dismissed by the FIA, meaning Lando Norris’ penalty from the United States Grand Prix will not be reviewed. The papaya-coloured team invoked their ‘Right to Review, a way of providing new evidence to the stewards to review a given penalty, but that has been dismissed by the governing body of Formula 1.
During the 52nd lap of the race at the Circuit of The Americas, Norris overtook Verstappen, but that move took place off the track after Verstappen made the apex of turn 12 first, using all of the track, as is his right, to push Norris out wide. Verstappen did go outside the white lines himself. The McLaren driver left the track, resulting in a five-second penalty. This penalty put Verstappen on the podium, with Norris then moving down to P4.
Team principal Andrea Stella said after the Grand Prix in Austin, Texas that there would not be an appeal by his team, but at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, it was announced that McLaren will invoke the ‘Right to Review’. Stella and McLaren provided an FIA document as new evidence to try and change the penalty that was given to Norris, but McLaren’s protest was unsuccessful.
McLaren responded to the FIA’s decision
“We acknowledge the Stewards’ decision to reject our petition requesting a Right of Review. We disagree with the interpretation that an FIA document, which makes a competitor aware of an objective, measurable and provable error in the decision made by the stewards, cannot be an admissible “element” which meets all four criteria set by the ISC,” McLaren responded after the FIA made the decision to not review the situation.
Those four criteria are that the evidence must be significant, relevant, new AND not previously accessible to the team in question. The FIA believes that this was not the case, hence the reason for the rejection: “We would like to thank the FIA and the stewards for having considered this case in a timely manner. We will continue to work closely with the FIA to further understand how teams can constructively challenge decisions that lead to an incorrect classification of the race.”
