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Max Verstappen feels the current Formula 1 racing guidelines are overregulated, as he refutes claims that he never intended to make Turn 12 in his United States Grand Prix fight with Lando Norris.

Both Verstappen and Norris went off at Turn 12 on the 52nd lap of the race at Austin when Norris was attempting to overtake the Red Bull driver, and Norris stayed ahead despite getting the change of position completed off-track.

Norris suggested that Verstappen was quite happy not to make the corner and simply aimed to follow a line in the racing guidelines that the car ahead at the apex was entitled to the position.

Verstappen countered his point of view and stated that he always wanted to take the corner correctly, and that it was simply a showcase of hard racing between the two drivers.

He added that defending was made more difficult with the hard tyres, which shifted the grip away from his front axle and made him more cautious on the brakes.

“It’s quite impressive that people can read my mind [with apex tactics]. It’s crazy,” Verstappen said.

“I always try to make the corner, I didn’t want to look for a shortcut, so I don’t even know what to answer to this one. We’ve always said we wanted to race each other hard, that’s what we like to do.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“It was quite a difficult second stint. I lost a lot of grip on the front axle, it’s very difficult to brake. That’s what made my defence more difficult, because I know that if I braked a little bit too late, I would lock up and I really didn’t have the front grip.

“It wasn’t easy for me out there. I think all in all we still had a positive weekend for us, but still a few things of course that we want to do better, to be in that fight.

“I honestly believed, going into the race, that I would be in the fight, and we weren’t, so that wasn’t ideal. But at least it did show some promising signs that maybe we could be back in the fight.”

Verstappen joked that the rules of engagement were becoming so complex that he needed the handbook with him during the race, noting that it was becoming much more involved in recent years.

However, he accepted that removing the rules would result in calls for greater vigilance from the stewards over potential incidents. He added that he had “no concerns” about his driving being addressed in a future meeting with the other drivers.

“I think we are getting to a stage where I always need the book in the car! If you look of course over the years, the book has grown quite a lot,” Verstappen said.

“It is definitely overregulated, but then I can see the other point of if we take rules away, and there’s again an incident… ‘Oh, you need more rules! We need to be strong about this!’

“It’s always the same thing. In the past, we have maybe less rules, and you have the same argument: ‘You know, we need to be strong on this, on that’. It’s always the same story.”

McLaren has instigated a right of review request into Lando Norris’s penalty in Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix – the first step in trying to get the sanction overturned.

Norris was hit with a five-second penalty for overtaking Red Bull’s Max Verstappen off the track as they duelled late in the race at Austin.

The right of review hearing will take place at 14:30 Mexico City time on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s race in the Mexican capital, where McLaren will have to show the FIA that there was new, significant and relevant evidence that had not been available at the time of the decision.

More to follow

Lando Norris maintained his opposition to the stewards’ call to penalise him for passing Max Verstappen off-track at the United States Grand Prix, stating that he was no longer the attacking driver in that scenario.

The incident between Norris and Verstappen earned the Briton a five-second penalty as he was deemed to have left the track and gained an advantage, although both drivers were outside of the white lines at the time.

Norris says that he was ahead of Verstappen before the apex, where the Red Bull driver then emerged ahead – which Norris interpreted as his championship rival going in too hard and gaining an advantage by preserving the place off-track.

He says that both he and Verstappen did what they thought was right in the situation, adding that he still did not understand the stewards’ decision-making process in awarding him a time penalty.

“I’ve not spoken to Max at all because he did what he thought was right and I did what I thought was right. I still disagree and as a team we disagree,” Norris reflected.

“I think what we saw with George [Russell]’s and [Valtteri] Bottas’s version in some ways was very similar to ours: I was completely ahead of Max, I was over a car length ahead of him. I was no longer the attacking car, he was.

“I was ahead of Max, I was having to defend, he was the one attacking me and effectively he has gone in too hard and overtaken off the track. 

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battles with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

“I just maintained my position so it is something I am sure we will discuss as it has been a big talking point since last weekend. A lot of other drivers didn’t agree with it, teams didn’t agree with it.

“I think the point is that he only stayed ahead of me at the apex because he went off the track, he would not have been ahead at the apex if he braked where he should’ve braked and stayed on the track. I think that is obvious.”

Norris denied that he needed to change his entire approach to be more aggressive in those scenarios, but felt he could make small tweaks to how he races in the future.

He added that fighting against Verstappen pits him against “probably the best in the world”, which naturally makes overtaking him a considerable challenge.

“It is not as easy as just saying [I need to be more aggressive]. Do I need to make some changes? Yes. And adapt a little bit more. But is everything I am doing wrong? Also no,” Norris contended.

“I had a lot of fun and I respected the battle that we had. He still ended up on top and I need to be beating him. So some little things I need to change but I don’t need to change my whole approach.

Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, on the grid with his engineer

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

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“Max is probably the best in the world at what he does. When I am going up against the best in the world it is not going to be an easy thing to do. 

“He has been racing in this position for longer than I have. I am definitely not doing a perfect job, but I’m not doing a bad job.

“I think there are certain things I don’t agree with but I still want to be racing, I don’t want there to be rules for absolutely everything.

“I just believed the way I got a penalty last weekend and the consequences of how that happened I didn’t agree with, and that’s the only thing that needs to be changed. It is clear what his intentions are and it is difficult for me to get around.”