Near-crashes and time penalties: When overtaking gets tricky. Max Verstappen's driving style becomes a controversy in the world championship duel with Lando Norris. He himself has other worries.
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- At the Mexican GP, Max Verstappen once again attracts attention with his uncompromising driving style and is severely sanctioned by the race stewards with two ten-second penalties.
- "I'm not giving up that easily, and in the end it's not about whether you agree with the penalty or not," commented Verstappen on the decision after the race.
- Meanwhile, rival Norris emphasized in Mexico City: "I want to have good and tough battles with him, but fair ones."
Max Verstappen did not dwell for long on the highly charged discussion about his uncompromising course. After another setback in the increasingly toxic and close title fight with Lando Norris, the three-time Formula 1 world champion is clearly more concerned about his own Red Bull car. "When you are slower, you get into these situations," explained Verstappen after the Mexican Grand Prix.
It is highly doubtful that this explanation will be enough for his rival Norris. "That guy is dangerous," the McLaren driver radioed from the car and later said: "I knew what to expect. That was not clean driving." The time penalties against Verstappen were probably not enough, McLaren's managing director Zak Brown added: "It's getting a bit ridiculous."
While attempting to defend himself against Norris in the race in Mexico City, Verstappen had exceeded the limits of what was permitted in the opinion of the race stewards and received two ten-second penalties as well as two points on the offenders' register. "I'm not giving up that easily, and in the end it's not about whether you agree with the penalty or not," commented Verstappen. After a race to catch up after the penalties, he moved up from 15th place to sixth, with Norris finishing second behind Carlos Sainz from Spain in another strong Ferrari.
Has Verstappen's driving style changed?
Verstappen now has 47 points more than Norris - a maximum of 120 points are still up for grabs in the next four Grand Prix. Next weekend there are 34 alone: the next sprint decision is also due in Brazil. Until then, the number one topic has been keeping Formula 1 at the highest operating temperature since the race in Austin a week ago: Verstappen's driving style. Even if it probably hasn't really changed.
The 27-year-old knows no compromises, he is merciless. But he didn't have to be during the peak phases of Red Bull's dominance - due to a lack of competition that could have overtaken him. The question behind this currently seems to be: how much overtaking is now possible and permitted in Formula 1 and how can you defend yourself against it? The fact that drivers push the limits is a characteristic of the sport and, above all, one that has made and continues to make the most successful of them. And this year, Verstappen simply has to defend himself more often.
In Spielberg, he and Norris clashed badly and the friendship that binds them both seemed to be in jeopardy. And then it started again recently in Austin. Norris lost third place to Verstappen due to a five-second penalty after overtaking the Dutchman shortly before the end of the race, leaving the track like Verstappen and, in the opinion of the race stewards, gaining an illegal advantage.
Harsh penalties against Verstappen an overreaction?
Not only Norris and McLaren complained, but also other drivers. They demanded clarity from the stewards, but the focus was automatically always on Verstappen, who was now penalized twice in Mexico.
"The harsh penalties were an overreaction after what happened in Austin," said Red Bull's motorsport consultant Helmut Marko on Sky. "The race stewards' huge penalty at Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix came on the weekend that Norris, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and other drivers had called on the Fia to tighten the rules because of Verstappen's 'unfair' driving style," wrote British tabloid The Sun.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner even presented sheets of data to prove that Norris would not have been able to turn the corner in one of the two controversial scenes. "On the lap with the incident with Max, he was 15 km/h faster and later on the brakes than on his fastest lap in the Grand Prix."
Pérez is no help - on the contrary
In the constructors' championship, Verstappen and Red Bull were pushed into third place behind McLaren and Ferrari. Ferrari almost scored maximum points thanks to Charles Leclerc's third place at the Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez a week after the double success in Austin - the Monegasque also grabbed the point for the fastest race lap. Red Bull's second driver finished 17th - the next low point for Sergio Pérez. And at his home race too. His future is open, explained Marko when asked.
Verstappen will ultimately decide on the sporting well-being of the former industry leader Red Bull, which has been in crisis on many fronts this year. "He is in a very strong position in the championship. He is far ahead. He has nothing to lose," emphasized Norris, who would be much worse off as the runner-up than Verstappen.
This time, his duels with Verstappen were all about avoiding an accident, said the 24-year-old Briton, making it clear: "I want to have good and tough battles with him, but fair ones."
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