David Coulthard blames his old team McLaren for the way the battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen played out at the US GP.
During the race, Verstappen and Norris went off track twice while fighting for third place, first at Turn 1 and then at Turn 12, where Norris tried to pass Verstappen on the outside. There were no penalties for the first incident, but Norris received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 12.
Coulthard commented that McLaren should “join a long line of people who complain and make excuses.” This penalty could be important for Norris’ chances at the title, as it put him behind Verstappen, who increased his lead to 57 points.
Both McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff criticized the stewards, who had previously added five seconds to George Russell’s time for forcing Valtteri Bottas off track at Turn 12.
However, Coulthard dismissed McLaren’s complaints. “My position was that whoever is ahead at what I define as the apex, has the right to control the corner,” he said on the Formula For Success podcast.
“And if I put myself on the outside of Michael [Schumacher], right, what do I think is going to happen? If I’m slightly behind and I put myself on the outside, he’s going to push me off the track. Of course he is.
That’s exactly what Max is going to do. The fact that Max then ran a little bit beyond the white line, actually, the point at which you are when you arrive at the apex, is what defines it.
“In the case of George, who was given the penalty, he was behind as they went through the apex, and then took a wider line, which forced the other car wide. So that’s why he was given the penalty.
“So for me, it’s absolutely clear, and I think that McLaren made a mistake in not saying to Lando, ‘Give the place back, pass him somewhere else,’ because he had the pace to do it.”
“And then complaining afterwards, ‘Oh, there’s rules for one, there’s rules for another,’ join a long line of people who complain and make excuses. You count the winners by the chequered flag, assuming there are no penalties afterwards.
“So, I think it was a brilliant bit of aggressive, strategic understanding of the rules by Max, and it was a slightly naïve position from McLaren.
“And Lando, on the in-lap I believe, and I can’t say word for word, kind of asked: ‘Why didn’t we give the place back?’ He was in the car, but he was trusting what the team was saying, and thinking that since they both went off, he should keep his position. But of course, he doesn’t know where the other cars were as they went through the apex.”
Formula 1 now moves on to this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, a race that Verstappen has won in five of the last six times it has taken place.
