Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes it was clear Lando Norris and McClaren were going to be penalised
Christian Horner has acknowledged that Lando Norris had the speed to pass Max Verstappen again if the McLaren driver had returned the place gained with his controversial overtake. The British driver made an off-track move on lap 53 of the United States Grand Prix to pass the champion that saw him exceed track limits.
The British driver believed Verstappen had squeezed him out, resulting in both going beyond the track’s white lines. Explaining his decision not to cede the position, Norris claimed Verstappen missing the corner was inevitable after out-braking himself.
Stewards intervened and slapped Norris with a five-second punishment for gaining an edge by leaving the track. Although he finished four seconds ahead, the penalty sent him behind Verstappen.
However, the Red Bull team principal believes Norris had other options. “What I perhaps didn’t understand was it was clear there was going to be a penalty, or it looked pretty clear there was going to be a penalty,” Horner said.
“With the car advantage and tyre advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race, it looked like he went to give the place back up at Turn One. But there was some confusion there.
“If he’d have given the place back immediately, he would have probably had enough pace to make the pass.” Norris did not exactly concur when asked whether his team should have instructed him to relinquish the position to Verstappen straightaway.
“It’s impossible to know,” Norris told Sky Sports F1. “They obviously can’t make their minds up for a few laps. It’s not an easy decision; otherwise, it would have come sooner. I tried. [Verstappen] also went off the track, so if he goes off the track, clearly he’s gone in way too hard and also gained an advantage by doing what he did.”
