Formula 1 Mexican GP
Verstappen says racing rules “overregulated” amid Norris US GP fight fallout
Max Verstappen's tactics against Lando Norris came under fire after their US GP battle
Jake Boxall-Legge Erwin Jaeggi
Edited: Oct 25, 2024, 7:56 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Max Verstappen feels the current Formula 1 racing guidelines are overregulated, as he refutes claims that he never intended to make Turn 12 in his United States Grand Prix fight with Lando Norris.
Both Verstappen and Norris went off at Turn 12 on the 52nd lap of the race at Austin when Norris was attempting to overtake the Red Bull driver, and Norris stayed ahead despite getting the change of position completed off-track.
Norris suggested that Verstappen was quite happy not to make the corner and simply aimed to follow a line in the racing guidelines that the car ahead at the apex was entitled to the position.
Read Also:
Verstappen countered his point of view and stated that he always wanted to take the corner correctly, and that it was simply a showcase of hard racing between the two drivers.
He added that defending was made more difficult with the hard tyres, which shifted the grip away from his front axle and made him more cautious on the brakes.
"It’s quite impressive that people can read my mind [with apex tactics]. It’s crazy," Verstappen said.
"I always try to make the corner, I didn’t want to look for a shortcut, so I don’t even know what to answer to this one. We’ve always said we wanted to race each other hard, that’s what we like to do.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
"It was quite a difficult second stint. I lost a lot of grip on the front axle, it’s very difficult to brake. That’s what made my defence more difficult, because I know that if I braked a little bit too late, I would lock up and I really didn’t have the front grip.
"It wasn’t easy for me out there. I think all in all we still had a positive weekend for us, but still a few things of course that we want to do better, to be in that fight.
"I honestly believed, going into the race, that I would be in the fight, and we weren’t, so that wasn’t ideal. But at least it did show some promising signs that maybe we could be back in the fight.”
Verstappen joked that the rules of engagement were becoming so complex that he needed the handbook with him during the race, noting that it was becoming much more involved in recent years.
However, he accepted that removing the rules would result in calls for greater vigilance from the stewards over potential incidents. He added that he had "no concerns" about his driving being addressed in a future meeting with the other drivers.
"I think we are getting to a stage where I always need the book in the car! If you look of course over the years, the book has grown quite a lot,” Verstappen said.
Read Also:
Formula 1Norris still disagrees with Austin F1 penalty: 'Verstappen went in too hard'
Formula 1Perez: "I know I've had a terrible season"
Formula 1Alonso to miss F1 Mexico GP media day through illness
"It is definitely overregulated, but then I can see the other point of if we take rules away, and there’s again an incident… ‘Oh, you need more rules! We need to be strong about this!’
"It’s always the same thing. In the past, we have maybe less rules, and you have the same argument: ‘You know, we need to be strong on this, on that’. It’s always the same story."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Norris still disagrees with Austin F1 penalty: 'Verstappen went in too hard'
Next article McLaren instigates right of review over Norris’s US GP penalty
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
More from
Lando Norris
Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
11 h
Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027
Andrea Stella praises Lando Norris for reaction to Singapore GP sprint clash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Andrea Stella praises Lando Norris for reaction to Singapore GP sprint clash
Latest news
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe