To few surprises in F1, Verstappen went too far in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — There is a common thread woven into the ongoing discussions about racing rules in Formula 1: Max Verstappen.

After a week of discussions about how he raced against the title rival Lando Norris at the American Grand Prix, Verstappen was given a 20-second time penalty to serve the Grand Prix of Mexico City on Sunday – won by Carlos Sainzbefore Norris and Charles Leclerc — for two separate incidents involving the McLaren driver.

The first penalty, because Norris was forced off the circuit in Turn 4, was certainly questionable. The stewards were considered virtually identical Sergio Perez incidents with Liam Lawson And Lance walk was required to take no further action, continuing the angry theme of inconsistency in the decision-making of the FIA’s maligned stewards. However, there was no doubt about the second.

Verstappen drove off the track in Turn 8 to keep Norris behind him; no attempt to make the corner, just to make sure he got in front. It’s a move from the Verstappen playbook that many in F1 have seen before.

As a seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton When he saw a drama unfold before him on the eleventh lap of the race, he had no doubt who had caused it.

“I could see a group of cars in front of me, and I saw a plume of smoke, dust, and I knew (who) that must have been,” he said after the race. It is hardly a surprising position.

The 2021 title fight between Hamilton and Verstappen is legendary and included three on-track clashes and a number of other flashpoints between the pair. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russel referred to that title fight in his own media session, saying: “I haven’t seen something like that since probably Brazil.”

The reference is to Brazil 2021, when Verstappen drove his car off the circuit to keep Hamilton behind him in a crucial race in that year’s championship race. The move went unpunished at the time and can easily be overlooked as Hamilton cleanly passed Verstappen a lap later to win the race, but it clearly set a precedent. Verstappen delivered a copy of Norris in Mexico City on Sunday.

“This man is dangerous,” was Norris’s verdict on the radio immediately afterwards. “I just had to avoid a crash. It’s the same as last time.”

After finishing second, Norris reiterated what was implied in Hamilton’s statement to the media: with Verstappen the playbook is often the same.

“I knew what to expect,” Norris said. “I didn’t expect something like this, because I respect Max very much as a driver, but I was prepared to expect something like this. This is not very clean driving in my opinion, but I avoided it and it was a good race.”

Norris elaborated on that position during the press conference that followed for the top three finishers.

“I think it’s pretty clear what happened,” he said. “I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max. It’s clear that it doesn’t matter if he wins or comes second, his only job is to beat me in the race. And he will sacrifice himself to do that, like he did today.

But I want to have good fights with him. I want to fight tough fights, as I’ve seen him do many times, but honest ones. It will always be at stake. It’s always going to be hard with Max, never going to make anyone’s life easy, especially mine at this point in the year, but I think today it was just… It wasn’t fair, clean racing, and that’s why I think he got what was waiting for him. .”

Norris added: “I hope Max recognizes that he has gone a step too far.”

Verstappen did not acknowledge that. In response to a question about the Norris incident during his post-race media sessions, he said: “We didn’t hit each other, so we just raced hard.”

Verstappen often follows a similar pattern when it comes to answering questions about his driving style: deny, deny, deny, or deflect, deflect, deflect. He did the latter on Sunday.

“The problem is that we are too slow and that is why I am put in those positions, that is my problem,” Verstappen said hours after the race.

The most frustrating thing about Verstappen is that he is so good that he doesn’t have to blur the lines to win races. He can race hard and fair; his aggressive style is why he quickly became one of F1’s most popular drivers after making his debut at the age of 17. He reminded the paddock of those two laps before the Norris incidents, when Sainz passed him through Turns 2 and 3 for the race lead. Verstappen squeezed the Ferrari driver as much as he could without making contact.

But when it was Norris in his mirrors two laps later, it was like a switch was flipped. It’s normal to fight a championship rival harder than anyone else, but Verstappen’s idea of ​​where the line between fair and unfair lies seems different across all his rivals.

He would not be the first driver to have this characteristic. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher were unapologetically willing to cross the line to win races and championships, and Verstappen seems to embody that mentality more than any other driver in the modern F1 era.

Norris himself has been criticized for being too passive in his battle with Verstappen, but that raises another question: is Norris passive, or is it passive in relation to what Verstappen is willing to do in the same situation?

“I’ve always fought fair. That’s who I am. That’s who I am as a racer,” Norris said Sunday. “That’s my way of riding every day. Maybe I lost sometimes because I was too honest and not aggressive enough. And I have to find a better balance there.”

Late in the race, Hamilton and Russell enjoyed a close but fair battle, with the latter throwing shade in the Red Bull driver’s direction.

“It was fun to do the battle, and I mean it’s always good when you fight Lewis because it’s hard and it’s fair,” Russell said. “Right now you’re seeing some maneuvers that just, you know, go beyond being entertaining or sporting, it’s almost unfair to some extent.”

F1 returns to Brazil next week and references to 2021 and Verstappen’s recent string of incidents will once again dominate the headlines. All that chatter does a disservice to what the three-time world champion has achieved this season.

The Dutchman’s style can often be used as a stick to beat him with, but a truly special Formula 1 career is unfolding. From the moment Verstappen made his debut in 2015 it was clear he was destined for big things, but this year was a hallmark of how a champion drives.

So often dominant champions are written off as products of a dominant car, but in 2024 Verstappen has done what all greats can do: he won when the car was unbeatable but, crucially, he has delivered time and time again when it wasn’t. Whether it was the victory in Canada, the sprint victory in Austin or the series of top-six finishes either side of the summer break, while Red Bull’s RB20 seemed to get worse with every Grand Prix, Verstappen has been picking up points in fantastic ways all season achieved. . His most painful loss of points, which could well cost Red Bull the drivers’ title, came when a brake fire forced him to withdraw from the lead at the Australian Grand Prix in April.

Verstappen will never stop racing hard: his aggressive style has won him millions of fans worldwide as one of the most exciting drivers to ever grace the Formula 1 grid. However, when he crosses the line in a way that only he seems capable of, he deserves to be called out: the Mexico City Grand Prix was one of those moments.