The United States Grand Prix in Austin ended with a nice and unexpected double for Ferrari. At the beginning of the weekend, the Scuderia drivers showed a very high pace and made no secret that they intended to compete for victory, but hardly anyone was prepared for the red cars to be so fast!
However, the highlight of the race was the battle for third place, which saw Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the two main contenders for this year’s championship title, go head to head in the closing laps. At some point, the duel between the Red Bull and McLaren drivers extended even beyond the track and the judges intervened in the matter…
How was the United States Grand Prix?
Ferrari’s double in F1: no one expected it! And the judges deprived Norris of the podium.
Push or pass off the track?
The key episode in the fight between Verstappen and Norris occurred five laps before the finish line. On lap 52, Lando kept slipstreaming in the “esques”, entered the high-speed straight very close to the Red Bull and after turn 11 he launched the attack with the DRS open.
Norris beats Verstappen on the straight
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
“McLaren” was already ahead of “Red Bull” on the straight and at some point overtook him with his entire body. However, Verstappen did not retreat: he took the inside trajectory and, in a desperate and late braking, reached the top before Norris.
Verstappen reaches the top early
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
With such braking, Max was unable to enter the turn and, as a result, all four wheels went off the track, dragging his opponent with him. After this, Lando didn’t let up on the accelerator and from the side of the road the cars returned to the track in a different order than they had entered.
Verstappen with all wheels off the track
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
The drivers, of course, began blaming each other over the radio: Norris said Verstappen forced him off the track and Max said McLaren had gained an advantage off the racing surface. The decision for the judges was not the easiest; after all, we are talking about the fight for the title. And in the end, the stewards penalized Norris for gaining an advantage off the track.
Overtaking off the track
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
Apparently, the judges’ logic is that no matter why the drivers ended up off the track, they must return to it in the same order. And at the apex, due to very late braking, Verstappen was ahead. This episode is similar to the fight between Verstappen and Hamilton in Sao Paulo in 2021: the Dutchman also lost position on the straight, but was the first to fly to the apex and “carried” his opponent to the side of the road, without fit. at the limits of the track. Lewis then retired and returned to the mat behind Red Bull, and the judges imposed no penalties.
Red Bull was once again suspected of cheating:
Another technical scandal in F1. Why are champions asked to be punished?
Something doesn’t break…
But there is another similar episode, and it did not happen three years ago, but at the same United States Grand Prix. On lap 13, at the same location, George Russell fought with Valtteri Bottas in a similar manner, but their attack ended in a penalty for running off the track…
Russell behind Bottas at the start of the attack
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
In both cases, before braking, Russell and Verstappen were behind their rivals: Max lost Norris on the straight and at some point was not even at the Mercedes base. Both Russell and Verstappen, due to late braking on the inside trajectory, are ahead of the opponent’s car at the moment of passing the apex.
Russell ahead of Bottas at the top
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
However, George, who remained within the limits of the track, receives a penalty for “squeezing an opponent”, while Max, who moved to the side of the road with all four wheels, does not. In their decision on the fine for Norris, the judges point out that Lando, who attacked on the outside trajectory, was not at the same level as Verstappen, although the position of Red Bull and McLaren at the top is almost the same as that of Mercedes. and Kick-Sauber.
Russell, unlike Verstappen, is on the track
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
Curiously, in the decision to fine Russell, George is mentioned as the attacking driver, while in the episode involving Norris and Verstappen, the latter, according to the text, defended himself. Although Russell and Verstappen acted almost identically, the only difference is that George was much more right. Furthermore, the text of the fine for the Briton says that he was obliged to leave a space the width of the car, but Verstappen, judging by the text of the decision, had no such obligations. Why supposedly Norris didn’t catch up with him?
The bonus for the best lap is cancelled:
Survey
F1 abruptly canceled the controversial clause in the regulations after the Singapore scandal. Are you in a hurry again?
The problem is the FIA
For some reason, the Grand Prix stewards do not take any responsibility for their decisions. Then, in 2023, the Singapore Grand Prix judges suddenly forgave Verstappen for blocking him in qualifying and then admitted the mistake. But all those who worked in Singapore then (Harry Connelly, Matteo Perini, Paul Ng and Vitantonio Liuzzi) continue to work as flight attendants. Ng returned to officiate at the Singapore Grand Prix this year, while Connelly was a steward this weekend in Austin. No one responded for that mistake – officially recognized – and no one explained how it was committed.
As the judges decided what to do with Norris and Verstappen, former Formula 1 driver and long-time commentator Martin Brundle admitted he had no idea what the decision would be. Pilots simply don’t know how logically the rules work; They do not know which actions will ultimately be punished and which will not. If Lando himself was sure that Max would be ticketed for pushing him off the road, he wouldn’t have passed him on the side of the road. But the Briton was not so confident, because no one knows exactly how the rules work in Formula 1.
The problems with arbitration have been going on for years.
Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
At the end of the United States Grand Prix, the judges intervened directly in the fight for the championship, and no one can explain how exactly Verstappen’s fight with Norris differed from Russell’s duel with Bottas. What if at the end of the season it is these three points that the judges took from Norris and gave to Verstappen that will decide the fate of the championship title or the constructors’ championship? In the latter case it involves, among other things, millions of dollars in prizes.
The president of the International Automobile Federation, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, recently complained that the FIA is only criticized, without paying attention to its successes. But, indeed, there are successes: the cars are as safe as possible and the regulations guaranteed the freshest 2024 season. But opaque arbitration and contradictory decisions overshadow all the federation’s achievements and, for some reason, it is not going to solve this problem.
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