FIA Crush Lando Norris’ Expectations As Max Verstappen Gets Away With Risky Business at Suzuka

Max Verstappen is just a win away from sealing the 2022 championship and he is very much on track to do so. The reigning champion ended Q3 on the pole ahead of Charles Leclerc. However, the Red bull driver faced an investigation by the stewards following a frightening moment.

Mclaren’s Norris and Max Verstappen both were on an out lap when the Dutchman lost control of his RB18 in an attempt to warm up the tires. This forced Norris, who was flying down 130R, to take to the grass.

The Brit blamed the Red Bull’s driver for the incident. However, Verstappen and his team boss Christian Horner were adamant that Norris broke the gentlemen’s agreement by overtaking a fellow driver on an out lap.

Not happy with his P10 finish, Norris told Sky Sports F1, “It’s quite clear he tried to do that. There’s no rule on what you can do, but doing what he did is something that you cannot do.”

“People always overtake before the last corner, as much as everyone agrees to it [gentleman’s agreement], everyone always does it, so it doesn’t matter, he probably would have done the same if he was in my situation, but I wouldn’t have swerved at him if I was in his situation.”

Verstappen, who offered an apology, explained the incident. He said he didn’t want to block the road intentionally. “I was just driving quite slow, and I wanted to accelerate but my tires were quite cold, so then I had a big moment,” Verstappen said in his on-track interview.

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Although Max offered an apology, he feels the Mclaren driver could have been more respectful.

Max Verstappen Breached the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations

During the qualifying session for the Japanese GP, the Red Bull spearhead allegedly violated Article 33.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations which states “At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”

Reacting to the whole incident, Red Bull Team Principal said, “It’s not that he was trying to block, I just don’t think he was expecting on an out-lap that somebody at that point near the chicane to be going through.”

“I think he was just obviously warming his tires up, getting ready to go and open his lap because you can see they start one by one through there.”

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With just a reprimand, Verstappen gets to keep his pole. Now, after getting half the job done on Saturday, the Flying Dutchman will look forward to Sunday. The Reigning champion can lift his second title on Sunday if he wins the GP with the fastest lap and Charles Leclerc finishes P2 or lower.