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McLaren has had its request for a Right of Review into Lando Norris’ Austin penalty rejected by the FIA stewards for last weekend’s Formula 1 race in Austin.

McLaren had argued that the stewards made an incorrect statement – and overall call – in handing Norris a penalty in Document 69 (from the FIA timing system) of the Austin weekend.

It was this that the orange team submitted as a “significant and relevant new element that was unavailable to McLaren at the time the stewards took their decision” to penalise Norris.

McLaren tried to argue that Norris had successfully got ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the scrap at Turn 12 late in the United States Grand Prix and so became a defending car and not an attacker when Verstappen shot back to reach the apex of the corner ahead before they both ran wide and Norris overtook in the wide run-off area.

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

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

In order for the Right of Review procedure to get to its second stage, which here would have been a new case assessing if Norris’s penalty would be rescinded, all teams initiating this process must prove to the stewards what they are arguing as new evidence is ‘significant’, ‘relevant’, ‘new’ and ‘unavailable at the time of the decision’.

The hearing in the Mexican GP paddock – with the Austin stewards joining via video – lasted just 25 minutes, as McLaren team boss Andrea Stella and team manager CHECK Randeep Singh made their case.
Red Bull representatives, which included sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, FIA officials including head of single seater matters Nikolas Tombazis were also present – with Wheatley outlining Red Bull’s arguments in the case.

Singh argued that McLaren believed ‘Document 69’ was a significant and relevant new element because “The document for the decision contained a statement that was incorrect and that [therefore] evidenced an objective, measurable and provable error had been made by the stewards” – per the FIA document announcing the Right of Review had been rejected.

McLaren said “that the statement [in ‘Document 69’] was that “Car 4 was overtaking Car 1 on the outside but was not level with Car 1 at the apex” and that “the above statement was in error because McLaren had evidence that Car 4 had already overtaken and was ahead of Car 1 “at the braking zone”.

Stella argued that “the case for McLaren was a ‘legally sophisticated explanation’ and urged the stewards to recognize that this was a substantive case especially compared to previous Right of Review cases”.

Wheatley said Red Bull felt none of the four Right of Review criteria had been met in this case and said, also per the relevant FIA document, that “in view of the “very high bar” that is set (in Article 14 of the FIA International Sporting Code) for a successful petitioning of a Right of Review, it is “extremely onerous” to establish the existence of the new element”.

McLaren, however, believed its evidence presented met the high bar required and also “stated that he felt there needed to be another way to correct decisions taken in a race”.

Having adjourned the hearing, the Austin stewards decided to only focus on one of the Right of Review elements – relevance – and declared that “the concept that the written Decision (Document 69) was the significant and relevant new element, or that an error in the decision was a new element, is not sustainable and is therefore rejected”.

The Austin stewards also explained that “McLaren appears to submit that the Stewards finding that “Car 4 was not level with Car 1 at the apex” was an error and that Car 4 had overtaken Car 1 before the apex (and therefore that Car 1 was the overtaking car) and that this asserted error is itself, a new element.

The statement continued: “This is unsustainable. A petition for review is made in order to correct an error (of fact or law) in a decision. Any new element must demonstrate that error.

“The error that must be shown to exist, cannot itself be the element referred to in Article 14 (of the ISC).”
At the end of their petition rejection document, the Austin stewards also commented on the “high bar” element of the Right of Review rule in the ISC.

They determined to draw the FIA’s attention to how “The current ‘high bar’ that exists in Article 14 and the fact that it appears to have been designed more for decisions that are taken as a result of a hearing where all parties are present, rather than in the pressurised environment of a race session, when decisions are taken, (as is allowed under the International Sporting Code), without all parties being present.”

This is an element of how Norris’s penalty was applied in Austin – without hearing his or Verstappen’s point of view – that had frustrated McLaren last weekend.

The hearing in the Mexican GP paddock – with the Austin stewards joining via video – lasted just 25 minutes, as McLaren team boss Andrea Stella and racing director Randeep Singh made their case.

Carlos Sainz topped FP2 at Formula 1’s 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, where George Russell crashed hard, Max Verstappen suffered repeat engine issues and the running was dominated by Pirelli’s tyre test.

In the extended 90-minute session, McLaren’s Lando Norris led the pack out of the pits and duly shot to a 1m19.895s using the 2025 prototype C5 Pirelli soft.

He was shuffled back by Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, before home hero Sergio Perez got ahead on a 1m19.150s using the same tyres as Norris.

Oscar Piastri, running the 2024 C4 compound, then nipped ahead on a 1m19.030s, before Sainz rounded out the opening five mins of running with 1m18.276s on the 2024 C4 tyres that are the mediums for this weekend’s main event.

A few minutes later, Sainz improved the benchmark to a 1m17.809s, just before Russell massively interrupted the session and Pirelli’s test with a big crash at Turn 9.

The Briton had gone too far over the inside kerbs of the preceding Turn 8, which caused his Mercedes to bottom out, and he spun off heading down towards Turn 9 – where he smashed sideways into the barriers and severely damaged his W15.

Russell climbed gingerly from the wreckage, with Mercedes later confirming he returned from the circuit’s medical centre without any injuries detected.

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

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The barriers took nearly 25 minutes to repair, after which the session resumed and Sainz – now on the 2025 C4s – went even quicker to put in a 1m17.699s.

After a short burst of performance running post-red flag, as per Pirelli’s test requirement, the drivers were then switched to the high-fuel running of 10 laps on each compound they had been given to run (the same through four runs overall at both 20kg and 100kg fuel loads) for the session.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri ended up second based on the performance runs, 0.178s down on Sainz and ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Charles Leclerc did put in an extra flying lap while the others were being fuelled for the longer tyre tests, as he had had to wait for his Ferrari to be repaired after it was hit by Alex Albon’s Williams when being driven by Oliver Bearman in FP1.

Leclerc therefore did not get out before the red flag and when he did post-restart, he slotted into 10th on the 2025 C4s before jumping to fourth on a second attempt.

He then improved again using the 2024 C4s, but remained fourth – where he stayed to the finish, 0.188s slower than his team-mate.

Kevin Magnussen took sixth for Haas ahead of Hamilton, Bottas and Perez, while Liam Lawson rounded out the top 10 for RB.

Russell’s crash meant the FP1 topper ended up down in 18th in FP2’s classification, ahead of Verstappen.

He had reported the same strange noise from his engine that had hampered his FP1 running and which Red Bull thought it had fixed between the sessions.

Further adjustments during the red flag did not improve the situation for Verstappen and he was forced to sit out the second half of the session, having also suffered a brake issue at Turn 1 during the early running.

Norris, Alonso, Zhou Guanyu, Hamilton and Leclerc headed out very late on the main event’s medium tyres, as per the allocation for teams that ran a rookie driver in FP1 that was supposed to give them an extra 30 minutes on that compound, before Russell’s crash cut that time to the bone.

Norris nevertheless used his mediums to rise to fifth in the final order, while Alonso got 11th position with a pair of personal bests late in the session and Leclerc’s only real lap on the relevant mediums featured a big lock-up at Turn 1.

Albon did not make it out of the garage as Williams was not able to repair his car before the end of the session.

George Russell endured a hefty crash in Formula 1’s second practice session at the Mexican Grand Prix to introduce a lengthy red flag.

The Briton took too much kerb at Turn 9 and it visibly upset his Mercedes’ handling as the rear of the car began to bounce, pitching Russell into the Tecpro barrier sideways.

Russell was able to get out of the car unaided – though clutching his midriff – and the nature of the impact necessitated the appearance of the medical car, which took him to the circuit’s medical centre for checks.

Mercedes has since announced that the English driver has been released from the medical centre and made his way back to the hospitality, clarifying: “He’s physically okay but it was a significant impact.”

This led to a 24-minute break in proceedings to repair the Tecpro barriers damaged in the Russell impact on the exit of Turn 9, before the session was able to get going again. 

Russell’s Mercedes sustained heavy damage to the right-hand side of the car, particularly to the sidepod and rear wing, and thus will require lengthy repairs overnight.

It was the second heavy impact sustained by Russell in consecutive weeks after he spun out at Turn 19 in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.

FP2 had been extended to 90 minutes for the purposes of a Pirelli tyre test; the control tyre supplier set out the run plans for all teams – with 30 minutes of free running granted to the drivers who missed FP1 after giving up their seats to young drivers.

The additional Pirelli tyres supplied are all unmarked; each driver was given an additional two sets of tyres, one of a 2024 compound used during the weekend, and another of a 2025 construction to provide back-to-back data without visually revealing the softness of the compounds themselves. One of these includes a C6 compound at an even softer grade.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed that Yuki Tsunoda will drive the team’s RB20 in Formula 1’s end-of-season Abu Dhabi test.

RB driver Tsunoda has only had experience of Red Bull machinery in demo runs, although tried the Red Bull RB18 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in an open-face helmet and goggles.

Honda has been keen for Tsunoda to test a Red Bull in a more representative environment, and the president of its racing division HRC Koji Watanabe told Motorsport.com earlier this month that the manufacturer had “strongly requested that Tsunoda be given the chance to drive and test in a Red Bull car.”

Horner said that the run in a Red Bull had been agreed “for some time” and that he was looking forward to seeing how Tsunoda would get on in a title-contending car.

“Yuki is a member of the junior team, and it’s something that we have discussed with Honda,” Horner explained.

“He will test the car at the tyre test following the conclusion of the season, and it’s something that has been agreed for quite some time.

“It will again be good to give him a run, and get the opportunity to work with Red Bull Racing engineers and see how he performs in a Red Bull Racing car.”

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

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This comes as Tsunoda has appeared to have been overlooked by Red Bull in recent months; his team-mate Liam Lawson has already tried the RB20 in a tyre test earlier this year, as the Kiwi has been linked to Red Bull as a potential replacement for the under-fire Sergio Perez.

Asked if the team was looking to make a final call on drivers at the end of the season, potentially with Lawson stepping up to the lead Red Bull team in place of Perez, Horner asserted that Perez was still contracted for next season.

He added that he would work with RB’s management to ensure that both teams had the best line-ups available.

“As I mentioned earlier, Checo has a contract for next year, so he’s currently our driver for 2025,” Horner said.

“Obviously there is a seat available at VCARB, but they’re all Red Bull Racing drivers that are on loan.

“We have the benefit of time to sit down with Laurent [Mekies, RB team principal] and Peter [Bayer, RB CEO] and look at all the options.”

Becoming Homestead-Miami Speedway Track President in July of this year, Guillermo Santa Cruz will oversee his first NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck weekend when Homestead hosts the midpoint of the Round of 8. But many — Santa Cruz included — would love to see the track return to its old position as NASCAR’s season finale.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Santa Cruz expressed respect for NASCAR’s scheduling decisions, but still spoke on a desire to return the track to its former role.

“We would love to have the championship back,” Santa Cruz told Motorsport.com. “We make no bones about it. I’m very open about it and it takes a lot to bring a championship to any city. The fact that it was here for 18 years was obviously a plus because we have that tradition. We have the incredible weather that we typically have this time of year. We have the Florida Keys [a] 20 minute drive away. There’s a lot to offer here — not only for the drivers, but for the spectators and everybody who loves motorsports.

“Ideally in a perfect world, one day the championship will come back. And I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t working on that and wasn’t trying to make that happen. Yes, we want the championship to come back. That’s not a secret,” says Santa Cruz.

The last champion to be crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry in 2019

Photo by: Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

Guillermo is new to the NASCAR world, but he brings with him an impressive resume in the sports media world. He’s worked in sports media for more than three years and has produced two FIFA World Cups on Univision, as well as the Olympics after moving to Telemundo. The bulk of his career was spent at IMG — a global sports and culture company company — spending 11 years there, where he even did some consulting for NASCAR. Motorsport.com was curious to learn why he chose to make this career change less than four months ago.

“I think one of the principle reasons why I took it is because I believe Homestead is really the future of south Florida,” explained Santa Cruz, a Miami native. “There’s so much happening here. There’s so much going on. The time was right to make a change. I’ve had a long career in sports and this was a new challenge. The direction NASCAR is going was another appealing factor about it.

“More than anything: One, the challenge and two, I knew it would be fun. And fun it has been.”

While he admits he is still learning the ropes of the stock car racing world, he is well aware of the fact that this is a track beloved by drivers and fans. It’s often celebrated as one of the best for passing on the entire schedule, and that’s a huge argument for why people want to see it take its place back as the finale, which has been held at Phoenix Raceway since 2020.

“From a marketing and product perspective, that took care of a lot of questions,” said Santa Cruz when asked about the track’s popularity. “The drivers like it and that means the product is good, the racing is good, so we don’t have to worry about that,” said Santa Cruz. “And to be fair to NASCAR and to me, that wouldn’t be my expertise. I wouldn’t know how to fix the track if that was an issue — if the competition wasn’t good. But the competition is good. The drivers love it. So in that regard, we’re great.”

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway.com Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Jared East / NKP / Motorsport Images

Despite losing its place as the finale, Homestead still plays a pivotal role in deciding the 2024 champion. As one of three races in the Round of 8, a win at the 1.5-mile speedway means an automatic entry for any of the eight remaining title combatants. 

“Homestead is wonderful test of skill and ability and strategy,” he said of its current role in the playoffs. “It has done that throughout its history and we can expect that here on Sunday. Only three spots are left so if you’re gonna make it move, you gotta make it now.”

Another schedule move

Unfortunately, the Homestead date will move yet again in 2025. The track will be out of the playoffs completely, moved to an early season date similar to its placement as the third round of 2021.

When asked about discussions regarding the race’s future and the possibility of moving it back into the playoffs in any way for 2026 or beyond, Santa Cruz provided a diplomatic answer. 

“Were excited to have a race any time and we’re ready to go a moment’s notice,” he told Motorsport.com. “We take a lot of pride in that here. This track is always ready to go.”

He went on the praise the spring date while also looking towards the future, saying: “March is a great date … we welcome that and we’re happy to race in March. As far as the future after that, whether it’s another playoff race or something else, we’re open to that.

“There’s a lot of decision-making that goes into those things. The weather has a lot to do with it, not only here, but in other parts of the country so it’s a little bit of a chess move with how you do the schedule. We’ll be ready to go whenever they [NASCAR] want us to race. We’re good, but yes, we would love to have the championship back.”