A new camera angle emerged from Verstappen’s carbut the Austin officials did not consider McLaren’s appeal to meet the criteria. The penalty is thus fixed.

Norris stood to win back three points if the sanction had been lifted. He is currently 57 behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

However, review requests are rarely successful. In 2021, Mercedes pushed for the Red Bull driver to be penalized for an incident with Lewis Hamilton in the Brazilian GP, ​​but although most drivers believed that Verstappen was in the wrongnothing came of it.

Earlier in the year, Christian Horner had pushed for a tougher penalty for Hamilton after he collided with Verstappen on the first lap of the British GP. He was initially given a 10-second penalty, and it was deemed appropriate.

Why McLaren’s review request was almost a ‘fishing exercise’

Speaking on the Autosport YouTube channel, journalist Alex Kalinauckas suggested that McLaren may have had an ulterior motive. They never seemed optimistic that the call would be lifted.

However, they believe they have highlighted problems with the current rules. And this can lead to “changes down the line”.

McLaren thinks Verstappen is “playing” the rules and want to plug any loopholes. That would, in theory, prevent him from using his divisive tactics in the future.

“McLaren has tried to do this to get some changes going forward,” Kalinauckas said. “Maybe they didn’t necessarily think this would lead to anything.

“What did they do? It’s almost like a bit of a fishing exercise in a way. By getting the stewards to highlight that little problem in the international spotting code, while it looks like an overwhelmingly negative result, there’s a little win there.”

Paddock insider spots unusual F1 driver briefing at Mexican Grand Prix amid Max Verstappen fallout

There are signs that McLaren’s plan may already be working. They have fueled intense discourse in the F1 paddock about the rules of engagement.

The Mexican GP driver briefing was unusually longsays Kalinauckas, likely because of the ongoing debate surrounding what happened in Austin. Trustees may soon apply different guidelines.

Zak Brown wants F1 to return to the strategy of the 1980s to allow drivers to “resolve differences” on track. But Martin Brundle has warned against that idea.

McLaren and Red Bull have become rivals off the track as much as they have on it. The Woking outfit currently lead the constructors’ standings with 40 points.

Related posts