Andrea Stella has called for FIA action over Max Verstappen’s on-track abuse, which was recently directed at Lando Norris. Before the Mexico race, during which the Dutch driver received two heavy penalties, the boss of McLaren F1 urged the regulator to act against dangerous behavior.
“We have already pointed out that the guidelines for these driving maneuvers need to be reviewed” Stella said. “It was mainly, I would say, after some episodes in Austria and then, I think, in Austin.”
“We suggested, either with the review or directly after the race in our comments in Austin, that we thought the interpretation of the race between Lando and Max was really unnecessarily to Lando’s disadvantage. For us, as As a team, we rely on the management of the FIA.”
“We have always been respectful, constructive and collaborative with the FIA, and we are ready to continue that. I think the drivers have also had the opportunity to express their opinion, and they all agree that There’s a lot of work to do.”
“And I think they’ve also given their thoughts on the episode that happened in Austin. There’s a lot of material. There’s a lot of information. I think now is the time to address these information and to take a step forward in the interest of sport.”
“The decision contained an error”
Stella explains why McLaren requested a review of Austin’s decision, even though it seemed a foregone conclusion: “As for my comments right after the race that we wouldn’t have had a review, those were based on what I knew at the time.”
“But after reading the decision, it became very clear that there was an element in the decision, which was also an element in relation to what is required by the International Sporting Code to be a new, relevant, significant element to bring the petition to fruition.”
“In reading the decision, it was very clear that it contained an objective, measurable and provable error, which was the element that we wanted to consider as the new, relevant and significant element required. We disagreed with the commissioners’ interpretation that this element would not be significant, relevant and new.”
“We believed that was indeed the case. But we are grateful to the stewards for looking into the matter very quickly, and we are maintaining our constructive and supportive approach as usual.”
