The FIA have rejected McLaren’s appeal for a ‘Right of Review’ regarding the five-second penalty given to Lando Norris. The penalty which saw the Mclaren driver demoted to 4th and Verstappen promoted to the podium places.
During the closing stages of the United States Grand Prix there was an intense battle by the championship favourites. The penalty was initially imposed as Norris overtook Verstappen off-track in a fight for third place. Inevitably, this penalty demoted Norris off the Podium.
The outrage within the Mclaren team and fans begun very swiftly, with many wondering why Verstappen was also not penalised when he did the same thing at the beginning of the Grand Prix. This consequelty led Mclaren to appeal the decision.
What was their argument?
The appeal was officially filed by McLaren on Thursday, just ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend. The hearing was held following the Free practice sessions.
The Mclaren team were needed to present new evidence to the FIA as to why they should overrule the decision. According to the rules of the FIA, an appeal can only progress if there is a “significant and relevant new element.” It is also said that this evidence must’ve not been available at the time of the stewards decision.
McLaren’s appeal rested on the argument that there was a factual error in the original decision document. The document “Car 4 [Norris] was overtaking Car 1 [Verstappen] on the outside but was not level with Car 1 at the apex.” McLaren asserted that they had evidence showing that Norris was actually ahead at the braking zone. Red Bull, represented by Jonathan Wheatley, countered that McLaren’s case did not meet the necessary criteria for a review.
The fate of Mclaren and Norris
Ultimately, the FIA concluded that McLaren’s claim of an error in the original document could not be considered a new element. Therefore the appeal was dismissed by the stewards.
With Red Bull not looking their strongest in FP1 and 2, this weekend could be beneficial to the Mclaren team. With Lando Norris needing to outscore his competitor Verstappen by 12 points each race to clinch the title.
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