AUSTIN — Lando Norris has avoided a penalty from race officials following the F1 Sprint Race at the United States Grand Prix after he faced an investigation for “driving erratically” during the final lap.
However, that might be the best news for the day for McLaren, who endured a tough start to Saturday after a difficult end to their Friday.
Norris started Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race in P4 and made a tremendous move at the start to get by Charles Leclerc and George Russell, and into P2 behind Max Verstappen.
However, despite his best efforts to reel in his Drivers’ Championship rival, Norris eventually saw Verstappen’s Red Bull fade into the distance. Worse still for him, his rear-view mirrors were filled with Ferrari red, as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. pulled within striking distance.
As the final lap began, Norris locked up into Turn 1 and lost a place to Sainz. He was left to defend against Leclerc throughout the lap, and a move at Turn 15 also drew the attention of the Scuderia, as well as race officials. Norris came across the line third, but had to wait confirmation of that result following an investigation.
However, the stewards cleared Norris shortly after the race. “There did not appear to be any significant changes of direction under braking, and the move at Turn 15 was a legitimate defending move by the driver of Car 4. In Turn 1 Car 4 locked up under braking and went wide, losing a position. Accordingly the Stewards determine that there is no erratic driving and hence take no further action,” read the decision.
Speaking in the FIA Press Conference, Norris conceded that by the time the final lap came around, it was likely that Sainz was going to catch him no matter what he did.
“Yeah, I think no matter what I would have done, I think Carlos is coming past,” began Norris. “My tires are completely finished by then.
“So, yeah, one thing I can just not defend and give up the inside and he gets me that way or I defend, and it just puts too much stress on the tires.
“You have to be so delicate with everything and, it’s just too easy to go over the limit. So gotta pay the price that way.”
Norris outlined that the past into Turn 1 from Sainz was actually beneficial for him at that stage of the race, because it gave Norris a chance at catching the Ferrari later in the lap with the advantage of DRS.
“But actually I almost think the fact he got me there was potentially a better thing, because I could have a good DRS on him, and a bit of a gap to Charles,” Norris explained. “So, yeah, not necessarily a bad thing that he actually got me that early in the lap, actually.”
Still, Norris was not able to take advantage, and ended up trying to defend from Leclerc later in the lap.
On the other side of the garage, it was a tough day for Oscar Piastri. The Australian driver started at the back of the field after a shocking SQ1 elimination yesterday and finished tenth, picking up a five-second penalty after an incident with Pierre Gasly, where race stewards found that Piastri had forced Gasly off the track.
The results Saturday mean Red Bull have pulled two points closer to McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship fight, and Verstappen has inched two points further away in his battle with Norris in the Drivers’ Championship.
But the big points are handed out tomorrow.
