The FIA has ruled against McLaren’s appeal, citing an absence of new evidence in the contentious Norris-Verstappen incident.
The FIA has officially announced its rejection of McLaren F1’s request for a right of review, submitted on Thursday in Mexico. The Woking-based team had hoped to overturn the penalty imposed on Lando Norris, who was found guilty of overtaking Max Verstappen off the track in Austin.
McLaren sought to overturn the initial decision made by the stewards, who determined that Verstappen was ahead at the apex of the corner. The team argued that this assessment was incorrect, presenting visual evidence that Norris had been ahead at the braking point.
The aim of McLaren’s challenge was to demonstrate that Verstappen had released the brakes to position himself ahead at the apex, subsequently blocking Norris and forcing him off track, causing him to complete the manoeuvre illegally.
Red Bull countered by arguing that the standard for a review request needed to be set at a higher threshold for the arguments to be considered admissible. The FIA ultimately sided with Red Bull and Verstappen, deciding not to open a hearing to reassess the penalty, concluding that there was “no new evidence.”
It remains surprising that teams do not attempt to leverage Article 2b) of Chapter 4 of Appendix L of the Sporting Code, which states that any driver may request an inquiry if they overtake and “leave the track without justification.”
The same article also stipulates that “any manoeuvres likely to hinder drivers, such as deliberately driving a vehicle beyond the edge of the track,” are strictly prohibited. It is therefore puzzling that this clause is not invoked in such cases to penalise a driver who forces their rival to overtake outside the track limits.
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McLaren’s Review Bid Rejected by FIA: Verstappen Cleared McLaren’s Review Bid Rejected by FIA: Verstappen Cleared
