McLaren team boss attacks ‘extreme Verstappen’ after USA GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella voiced his frustration following the United States Grand Prix, questioning why Max Verstappen escaped punishment for his defensive moves against Lando Norris. Stella urged stewards and journalists to examine Verstappen’s history of similar incidents, saying, “If I were a journalist, I would have done a bit of statistics of how many times Max has used this way for defending. I think both cars go off-track, so I think both cars are gaining an advantage if there’s an advantage gained.”

🎙Andrea Stella about the decision:

“The way the stewards interfered with a a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate.

Both cars went off track, both cars gained an advantage.

It costs us a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off in the first lap…” pic.twitter.com/adJGCcjq5x

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While Norris was penalized for overtaking off the track, Stella pointed out that Verstappen went off-track on two occasions, on Lap 1 and Lap 52, without facing consequences. Stella suggested this fits a recurring pattern with Verstappen: aggressive defenses with little to no repercussions from the stewards. He referenced the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Verstappen similarly forced Lewis Hamilton off the track but avoided punishment, adding, “Well, that was extreme because the speed at which Max missed the apex in Brazil. Like if you turn into Max, then it’s a big crash at the time. This one, it was much slower speed, so it could be a more benign situation. But it’s just the fact that you defend by going off track. This cannot be permissible.”

Stella also expressed dissatisfaction with Verstappen’s first-lap move, which pushed Norris wide and allowed both Ferraris to overtake. He conceded that stewards might have used “first-lap mitigating circumstances” as a reason for not penalizing Verstappen but urged for a deeper review of the incidents, saying, “We were a little upset by the manoeuver in corner one, because not only Max gained the position, but it costed the complete exit for Lando, and therefore losing the positions on both Ferraris.”

Stella added that while he respects the stewards’ difficult job, they should take the necessary time to review such complex situations post-race: “When the case is so difficult, like Lando and Max, just take the time, review it after the race, hear from the drivers, try to understand the subtleties.” For Stella, Verstappen’s actions during the US GP remained “really difficult to understand.”