Lando Norris fumes as Max Verstappen beef explodes

Lando Norris had a podium finish taken away as the McLaren driver traded protests with Max Verstappen in a wild finish on Monday.

Lando Norris had a podium finish taken off him after a late penalty in the final laps of the United States Grand Prix on Monday morning.

In a double blow for the McLaren driver, his earlier protest against a passing move Verstappen pulled on Lap 1 was dismissed, while his own controversial overtake was penalised.

While the championship rivals tussled on the opening lap, it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who sliced between them to take the race lead after starting from fourth on the grid.

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Leclerc was untouchable as the race progressed with teammate Carlos Sainz the only driver able to put pressure on the race leader.

The pair had clean air for the final 55 laps and they went on to achieve Ferrari-s first 1-2 finish at the Circuit of the Americas since 2016.

Verstappen held onto third spot on the podium — but only after immense drama.

Aussie Oscar Piastri was fifth.

Verstappen and Norris tussled again in the final ten laps with Norris throwing everything he had at overtaking Verstappen as the reigning world champ turned his Red Bull into a brick wall.

Norris had the superior pace, but had to wait until Lap 52 to finally get around his rival.

His move at Turn 12 took him outside of track limits when Verstappen forced him wide after missing the apex.

Verstappen wanted the incident reported and he got his wish with FIA stewards handing down a five second penalty that saw Norris drop down to fourth on the standings.

Cited for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, Norris was given team orders to continue to pull away from Verstappen rather than give the position back.

The Turn 1 incident on the left and the Lap 52 incident on the right. Photo: Fox Sports.

It left Norris filthy with his own team that the call ended up blowing up in their face.

“Then I should have just come back behind him, shouldn’t I,” he said on team radio after being told of the penalty.

He crossed the finish line just 4.1 seconds ahead of Verstappen, gifting the Dutch driver a podium finish.

Verstappen has now extended his lead over Norris to 57 points in the drivers’ championship with five races left this season.

F1 guru Martin Brundle said the penalty was fair.

“I think that’s a fair cop for Norris. I think he would have been better giving that back straight away,” he said.

“Had he found another one second in the last few laps, it would have been the right thing to do.

“I think it was inevitable Norris was going to get some kind of penalty.”

Verstappen also wasn’t happy about Norris’ pass, despite still getting the result he wanted.

“My god, that was a hard race,” he said.

“I tried everything with the defending. That was fun.

“It’s just a bit weird that you can overtake outside the track.”

Anthony Davidson takes a crack at the Austin circuit.

Sky Sports F1 analyst Anthony Davidson reviewed the incident after the race and said the drama could have been avoided if the bitumen had been replaced with gravel around the outside of the track.

“My final gripe with all of this, they shouldn’t be out here (off the track) at all,” he said.

“I hate this. Please Austin circuit, please I beg you, put gravel there, then none of this will be a talking point.”

Norris gave his team the benefit of the doubt when speaking after the race.

“It’s impossible to know. They obviously can’t make their minds up for a few laps, so it’s obviously not an easy decision, otherwise it would have come a bit sooner.”

McLaren's British driver Lando Norris should have handed back the position. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also said his team had “no doubt” that Norris’ move should not have been penalised.

“My view is the way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate because both cars went off track, so both cars gained an advantage,” he said on Sky Sports.

“It’s a shame because it cost us a podium and a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off on the first lap and first corner. We accepted it.

“Having said that, very clearly our position, this kind of decision cannot be appealed. This chapter is now closed and we move onto the next race.”

Earlier, it was Norris complaining about Verstappen.

Max Verstappen races ahead of Lando Norris on the opening lap. Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP.

The Turn 1 squabble also ended in Verstappen’s favour.

Replays showed Norris only had himself to blame for letting Verstappen sneak past him.

However, McLaren reported the incident to FIA stewards with Norris fuming on team radio.

F1 guru Martin Brundle said Norris simply hadn’t been aggressive enough.

“Lando you had all the right ideas, you just didn’t fulfil it completely and left a Red Bull sized gap,” he said on Sky Sports.

“Not aggressive enough. He really needed to close Max off.”

He said Norris would not enjoy watching the replays of the incident.

The British driver said on team radio.

“He clearly pushed me off,” he said.

“He had no intent to make the corner. Even he went off the track. I had to avoid crashing into him or him into me.”

McLaren boss Zak Brown also described Verstappen’s move as a “dive bomb.”

Leclerc was supreme throughout the race and cruised to the chequered flag eight seconds ahead of Sainz.

Brundle said Ferrari’s resurgence could be a big factor in the final five races of the season.

“This is a big story now,” he said.

“The Ferrari pace is mighty and only really Verstappen can stay anywhere near it.”

Originally published as Lando Norris fumes as Max Verstappen beef explodes