Toto Wolff accuses F1 stewards of 'bias' after Lando Norris penalty in Max Verstappen fight

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff made it clear where he stands after McLaren's Lando Norris was penalised for his manner of overtaking on title rival Max Verstappen

Toto Wolff said Lando Norris' penalty in Austin was "odd and bizarre" as he suggested "bias" played a part in the decision to punish the McLaren racer.

He picked up the penalty in the dying seconds of the United States Grand Prix after an overtake on Max Verstappen was ruled to have been illegal. A five second penalty saw Norris finish behind his title rival despite being ahead on the road.

Norris had attempted to overtake around the outside of turn one when both he and Verstappen went off the track. The Brit came back on ahead and McLaren were convinced he was in front when both cars reached the apex of the corner, but the stewards disagreed.

Speaking over the radio to his driver George Russell, Mercedes team boss Wolff made it clear where he stood on Norris' punishment. Russell asked as he trundled back to the pits: "Did Verstappen get a penalty for that at turn one?"

And the Austrian replied: "No he did not get a penalty and, at the end, Lando got a penalty for being forced off while overtaking on the outside there. I guess it was pretty biased decision-making." Russell agreed that it was a "strange" decision.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 pit lane reported Ted Kravitz shortly after that radio exchange, Wolff again hinted at unfair penalties being given by the stewards but stopped short of directly accusing them of favouring Verstappen and his Red Bull team.

He said: "It is inconsistent. We have seen a few of those incidents which were exactly the same which were not penalised... receiving that penalty is just completely odd and bizarre. I think we know why, but obviously you cannot say that on television. Sometimes there are correlations when there is decision-making that is interesting."

Norris lost further ground to Verstappen in the drivers' title race as a result of the race's outcome. He is now 57 points adrift of the Dutchman with five rounds remaining and, though he claimed he was "not going to complain" about the way the Red Bull racer defended, he said Verstappen had "gone in way too hard" and forced him off the track.

He said: "It was pretty tight, Max went for a tight gap... he had obviously committed quite a bit which he has got the right to do. But, again, he went completely off track. He defends by going off track, he overtakes by going off track."

And his boss Andrea Stella added: "The way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate. Both cars went off track so both cars gained an advantage. It is a shame because it cost us a podium in a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off in the first corner."

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