FIA Confirm Why Max Verstappen Received 20-Second Penalty at Mexico GP

The FIA have clarified why F1 championship leader Max Verstappen was hit with a pair of 10-second penalties after his incidents with title rival Lando Norris during the Mexico City Grand Prix.

In a return to the on-track shenanigans between the pair from the last race in Austin, Verstappen and Norris came to blows twice on lap 10 as the latter went for the attack around the outside of the Red Bull into Turn Four for 2nd place, only to be forced off-track by Verstappen in a near-exact copy of the Austin incident. As Norris ran off and stayed ahead of Verstappen, the Dutchman went for a surprise divebomb into Turn Eight that sent both cars off the road, allowing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to sneak past both and Norris to drop to 4th.

While Norris was penalised 5 seconds for the Austin incarnation, this time the guilty party was deemed to be Verstappen on both occasions, receiving two 10-second penalties for forcing another driver off the track and later leaving the track while gaining an advantage.

The Official Explanation for Why Max Verstappen was Hit With A Double Penalty in Mexico City

The Red Bull man couldn’t believe what he was hearing when informed

The post-race official documents by the FIA stewards gave a more detailed explanation for the reasoning behind Verstappen’s double penalties that cost him a chance at the podium. When told of the sanction by his team, Verstappen bemoaned Norris’ own conduct at Turn Four, but the stewards did not agree. In regard to that incident:

“Norris was ahead of Verstappen at the entry, apex and towards the exit of the turn when he started being forced off track. The stewards believe that the maneuver was done in a safe and controlled manner and that Norris would have been able to make the maneuver on the track had he not been forced off the track by Verstappen. The penalty is the standard penalty in such cases.”

The stewards also noted that Norris correctly returned the lead to Carlos Sainz after he wound up ahead of the Spaniard as a result of cutting the chicane.

As for the drama at Turn Eight, the stewards’ decision was determined as follows:

“Verstappen was ahead at the apex of Turn 8 and would have been entitled to racing room. However, he was not able to complete the maneuver on the track, left the track and kept the lasting advantage, gaining the position, incidentally forcing Norris off the track.”

This penalty is of note for being the same penalty that Norris received in Austin but only for 5 seconds. The reason for the lenient penalty was that as he was on the outside, being forced to go off-track due to Verstappen, the stewards chose a smaller penalty than the normal number of 10 seconds.

Compounding a miserable day for Verstappen, he was later hit with a further sanction of two penalty points on his licence by the stewards. Per Planet F1, the 27-year-old is now technically half way towards the 12 points in a 12-month period that would see him forced to serve a one-race ban.

He was previously given two points on his licence for forcing Charles Leclerc off the track during last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix and followed that up with another two points at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix when he colided with Norris. Luckily for the Dutchman, the two points he picked up in ‘Sin City’ in November 2023 will disappear from his record next month.

Following the stewards’ decisions, Verstappen would finish sixth on a dismal day for Red Bull while Norris snatched second place off of Leclerc late after the Monegasque nearly lost his car into the wall at the final corner. With Carlos Sainz’s victory and a miserable home GP for Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, Red Bull’s rough day was made worse by the fact that they are now behind Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship and looking further and further away from retaining their title. As for the Drivers’ Championship, Verstappen only loses 10 points of his advantage over Norris with four races and two sprints to go and a 47 point lead to protect.