McLaren hands out 'inappropriate' penalty as Norris F1 title hopes hit

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McLaren team boss Andrea Stella described as “inappropriate” a controversial penalty against Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix that could destroy his dream of winning the world title.

Race stewards penalized Norris, relegating him to fourth place behind three-time world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull after the pair clashed in the closing laps and went off the track.

A five-second penalty on Norris, who was third on the track at the checkered flag, pushed him back to fourth behind the series leader and dealt a major blow to his bid to catch and overtake the Dutch driver in this year's title race.

Norris was considered to have gained an advantage by going off the track while overtaking Verstappen on lap 53 or the 56-lap race.

The incident cost Norris valuable points and helped Verstappen take a 57-point lead in the title race to 354 to Norris' 297 with five races to go.

“In my opinion, the way the stewards intervened in a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate because both cars went off the track and both cars gained an advantage,” said McLaren team boss Andrea Stella.

“It's a shame because it cost us a podium, it cost us a race where we stayed patient after being pushed off on the first lap, in the first corner. We accepted it.”

“Having made our position, this position of the stewards, very clear, such a decision cannot be appealed. For us the chapter is now closed and we move on to the next race.”

“But both cars came off the track, so there was no doubt in our minds that the maneuver was correct.”

Norris was philosophical about his predicament after a spirited drive, recovering from a poor first lap when he wasted his fourth pole in five races and dropped to fourth.

“Not my best race,” he said. “With the defeat in turn one and just the race at the end, it clearly wasn’t enough – that’s life. I didn't work well enough, but I tried well, so I'll do my best.”

“Sometimes my best isn’t good enough. It just wasn’t our day today.”

He added that he was thinking about speaking to the stewards about their decision, but felt that “there are many scenarios where people would not get a penalty in cases like what happened.”

He said it was difficult to know whether he should have given up his seat immediately during the race.

“It's hard to say, but maybe that was the only chance I had. Max defended well and it wasn’t easy to overtake him.”

Verstappen said he endured a difficult race without the necessary speed in his car to attack.

“It was tough, a tough fight and I tried everything to keep it behind me. But it was also fun,” he said.

“A podium finish is a good result. I have my own opinion about the movement, but I don't have to say anything. I’ll let the stewards do their thing.”

The race was won by Charles Leclerc, who led Carlos Sainz home in a Ferrari one-two. Leclerc's victory moved him to third place in the championship with 275 points.

“We did a great job and the pace of the car was really good and that’s thanks to the engineers and the team,” said Leclerc.

“They have worked like crazy on the upgrades and it is now paying off. We couldn’t have imagined anything better.”

“Everything worked out and we are very satisfied. Now we have our sights set on the constructors’ title.”

It was Leclerc's first victory in America, his third this year and the eighth of his career, while Ferrari celebrated its first one-two finish at the US Grand Prix since 2006.

Ferrari's success at the Circuit of the Americas took them to 496 points in the teams' title race, behind McLaren on 544 and Red Bull on 504, with the Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix taking place on the next two consecutive weekends.