Lando Norris accuses F1 stewards of "guessing" as US Grand Prix penalty fallout rages on

Lando Norris was given a five-second time penalty at the United States Grand Prix which saw Max Verstappen finish above him and dented his F1 drivers' title hopes

Lando Norris fears his controversial penalty at the United States Grand Prix may have "killed" his title hopes.

The Brit was duelling with championship rival Max Verstappen late in the Austin race when he went off track while trying to overtake. He claimed he had been pushed off by the Red Bull but the stewards instead punished him for an illegal overtake.

The penalty dropped him behind Verstappen in the final result and saw the McLaren driver's deficit grow to 57 points with five rounds remaining. Explaining the decision, the stewards said Norris was not ahead of Verstappen at the apex of the corner and therefore lost the "right" to make the overtake.

But the Brit said he did not understand that view and replied: "The point where it is incorrect is what Max did, which was also to defend his position by going off the track and keeping the position. He went off the track because he over-defended and he made a mistake but he has gained from that. I had to go off to avoid him.

"With Max, you have got to commit, you cannot go half-hearted and people do not understand that kind of thing. It is impossible to know if I could have stayed on the track. Therefore, you cannot steward that kind of thing.

"It is just a rushed decision and they do not hear or understand our points which they should do after the race. They just want to make a decision at the time. You cannot appeal this kind of penalty which is again a silly thing because they are just guessing and I do not think that is how stewarding should be done."

In response, Verstappen said he does not sympathise with Norris and accused McLaren of "complaining a lot lately". He added: "It is very clear in the rules - outside the white lines, you cannot pass. I have been done for it as well in the past."

Prior to the Austin race weekend, Norris had been catching Verstappen at a steady rate. But the Dutchman got the better of his championship challenger in both the Sprint and the main Grand Prix in Texas, helped by an upgraded Red Bull car which provided better balance.

In contrast, the McLaren was not as fearsome as it has been in previous rounds, while Norris conceded that he had been too timid himself at the first corner when he lost the lead to winner Charles Leclerc. He said: "If I defended better in turn one and was not driving like a muppet, then I should have led after turn one and we would not be having this conversation in the first place.

"It is a momentum killer - the one guy I need to beat was Max and that was the guy I did not beat. It was not good enough. We have work to do and I have work to do on myself."

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