The double penalty that Max Verstappen was hit with in F1’s Mexico Grand Prix will change the way that all drivers race from now on, reckons Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Verstappen was handed two 10-second penalties in Mexico – the first for forcing Lando Norris wide early in the race, and the second for overtaking him off the track just a few corners later.
The incidents, and the stewards’ hardline stance, came just one week after controversy over Norris being handed a five-second penalty for overtaking off track at the United States Grand Prix after a clash with Verstappen there.
Verstappen’s aggressive defending in Austin, and his obsession with making sure he gets to the apex first at all costs because that is what the rules put an onus on, has triggered a push for a revamp of F1’s Driving Standards Guidelines.
But while that will not come until the Qatar Grand Prix, the way that Verstappen did not get away with such tactics this time out will be a game changer in stopping it becoming a common approach, reckons Wolff.
Having been on the receiving end of seeing Verstappen’s aggression up close during Lewis Hamilton’s 2021 title battle, Wolff senses that the Mexico decision could lead to a change in behaviour.
“A driver will always push to the limit and when the rules – or the interpretation of the rules – allow a certain way of racing, a driver like Max is always going to exploit it,” said Wolff.
“I think now there has been a new interpretation and execution of those regulations that I think will change the way everybody races in the future. You won’t see that anymore.”
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Wolff thinks that laying down the law in demanding drivers do leave room for rivals on the outside is critical to helping deliver good racing.
“I always say that the drivers know exactly what’s happening,” he said. “You know when somebody is releasing the brake too late and just drags you into the corner, and pushes you wide.
“From the early days in go-karts, you know that you’re not going to survive on the outside if you’re not ahead. So I think the rules are pretty clear, and the drivers know that.
“Everybody’s trying to push that and, if you get away with things, that is the new limit. So will it change? Absolutely.
“I think now there is precedent, and I think there were others taking penalties in race too.
“From now on, you’ve got to leave space on the outside of the corner if the car is next to you. Braking late and dragging the other car out of the track whilst also driving off track – I think that’s not on anymore. That’s not allowed and I think it’s good for racing.”
But while Wolff thinks that the situation for battling is now improved, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has a different view of things.
He fears there is a risk now of the latest rulings meaning drivers will try to hold on too long around the outside.
“It used to be a reward of the bravest to go around the outside,” he said. “I think we’re in danger of flipping the overtaking laws upside down, where drivers will just try to get their nose ahead at the apex, and then claim that they have to be given room on the exit.
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“You can see quite clearly, he [Norris] has effectively come off the brakes, gone in super, super late, to try and win that argument, as far as the way these regulations are written, and then at that point, you’re penalised.
“Every indoor karting circuit around the world, if you got the inside line, you control the corner. It’s one of the principles in the physics of racing.
“And I think that they just need to get back to the basics. That if you’re on the outside, you don’t have priority.
“Otherwise, we will end up with a mess over these last five races. So I think it’s really important that the driver steward, together with the drivers, agree something that is sensible, rather than what we’re getting.”
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