Charles Leclerc agreed Max Verstappen went too far in his fight with Lando Norris in last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.
However the Ferrari driver believes others would do the same if they were in Verstappen’s situation.Verstappen was given two 10-second time penalties for his incident with Norris. In the second, at turn seven, Verstappen dived down the inside of the McLaren, failed to make the corner and forced Norris off the track with him. Leclerc said this was a clear violation.
“The second move on Lando, I think this is over the limit,” he said. However, Leclerc added, “I also think that whoever in his position might just do the same, because we are fighting for a world title and I think it would be very false to say that drivers will do something different today.”
Leclerc believes Verstappen is doing what he can to limit Norris’ opportunity to score points.
“He feels that the car that he has is not as good as the beginning of the season,” he said. “He feels that McLaren probably [has] really good momentum at the moment and they are all fighting for the drivers’ title.
“So it’s hard. Sometimes he will go over the limit, like he did in Mexico. But again, they are fighting for a world title. So in my opinion it’s understandable.
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“Then it’s up to the FIA to control that and obviously put limits to what is possible or not. And on that we are trying to work to make it the best possible.”
“It’s nothing to do with me at the moment. Obviously, if I was in the battle, I could lean in more into it, but these are the things you have to ask those two because they’re the ones that it’s affecting. But I don’t think you’re seeing much difference across the years from 2021 to now. It’s pretty much the same.”
Although Verstappen made it clear today the penalties he received will not affect his approach to racing this weekend, Carlos Sainz Jnr believes he will have taken note of them.
“It’s unsurprising in a way, because he’s fighting for a lot and he knows he’s trailing in terms of performance and he’s doing everything he can to minimise his points loss,” said Sainz. “At the same time, I think those double 10-seconds penalty, it was also a message from the stewards to say ‘we’re monitoring what you’re doing and we want to keep the sportsmanship and the title fight fair’.
“And I think he understood that message and he knows that you cannot go too far in this sport because in the end, you can pay the price.
“I really wish they have a good title fight, a fight that will be always remembered in a fair way and they can put on a good show.”
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2024 Mexican Grand Prix
- McLaren have no regrets over pitting Norris shortly before red flag came out
- Leclerc fined, avoids same penalty as Verstappen after apologising for swearing
- Leclerc not in the clear over swearing as Verstappen claims he went unpunished
- Majority of drivers wanted racing rules to change “straight away” – Russell
- Verstappen was “over the limit” with Norris but others would do same – Leclerc
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
31st October 2024, 23:19
That’s all I really want actually. I have been waiting for any McLaren title for 16 years and I would be thrilled if we can finally snatch something. Drivers title is a long shot so I’ve not had that much faith in it anyway, but at least make it a fair fight. Foremost I will always be a fan of the sport first before I’m fan of any team or driver. And if Max shows proper sportsmanship and then comes out on top, I can respect that having seen good battles on track between the both of them. But not like this. If he keeps going on running Norris off the road so that the Ferrari’s get a clear pass and the team loses the constructors title to Ferrari because of this, I swear I’ll hate him for the rest of my life.
Khürt Williams (@khurtwilliams)
1st November 2024, 3:19
Ditto.
Robert (@lekkerbek)
1st November 2024, 6:49
If Lando doesn’t win the WDC it’s totally his own fault and certainly not just because of a single race in Mexico.
He had the best car since Miami and even after Austin the gap between Max and Lando was even bigger than when it was after Miami. That’s all Lando and McLaren.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
1st November 2024, 8:44
The weird thing is if Lando had almost killed Max this year, nobody would be eschewing that kind of sentiment. Just because someone doesn’t drive dirty, doesn’t make them less worthy, it just makes them better. Period.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
1st November 2024, 8:48
(nobody -> everybody)
Doh
1st November 2024, 15:00
It’s actually quite funny if you think about turn 7, what he did there was worse than Silverstone 2021 much worse. A high speed corner with less run off than copse and he sent it down the inside when back in 21 Horner was saying you don’t pass into copse. That was a clear battle for position with cars offline and alongside each other yet this gets a pass because it max and redbull and oh no the British press. Norris expected it but had he turned in that would have been a big shunt.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
1st November 2024, 18:03
@spafrancorchamps yeah, this could affect the WCC, if it already hasn’t. Max’s behavior could cost McLaren the WDC and WCC.
An Sionnach
1st November 2024, 4:14
I agree with Leclerc. The second move in Mexico was out of order. The others were close given the rules. I think the two penalty points and 10 second penalty should answer those who are wondering about the fairness of Max’s move in Austin. A track limits strike and reduced penalty for Norris seem fair enough. The defending driver would not be able to do this many times, especially if they already had track limits strikes. When you add that failure to get to the apex first would mean two penalty points and a ten second penalty, there is deterrent there. If Lando had simply handed the place back, would Max have been able to successfully mount this defence over and over again? That is doubtful so I don’t see a loophole. He’d get a penalty for track limits if he somehow managed to be ahead at the apex every time he tried to defend. Up to this point his defence had been perfect and spellbinding. Some of the finest driving we’ve seen for a long time.
I want to see the championship battle play out fairly and, while I would like to see Lando do it, I am to a degree ambivalent as to which of them I’d like to see win, depending on how it plays out. Max stayed on the track for the first move in Mexico and must have been close at the apex. He paid the penalty when he was judged to the second to the apex. This move was not an unreasonable one to try. The only move was not on was the one that followed. I’m confounded as to why the narrative is so negative. I see one clearly out of order move all season so what is the problem? Is there really something wrong with the rules of racing or is it that Max stays ahead… even when his defence is within the rules? Again, there is no way the rules can be changed so Max always has to cede his position. If the rules are changed so that defending is made even more difficult then Max will benefit from this too when he is the one behind. Will everyone be asking for a rule change when he’s able to overtake because of the forthcoming rule? I suspect so…
Grapmg
1st November 2024, 10:24
Completely agree. There is a lot of whining especially from Zak Brown and he gets a lot of attention.
Let them race with proper natural track limits and order them to give a place back when needed but stop all the cry baby’s
Jojo
1st November 2024, 16:01
Yeah I think there has been an overreaction. The move in Austin was within the (current) rules. I can understand why drivers want that changed but Max is hardly to blame for taking advantage of the rules.
The first move in Mexico wasn’t that bad and actually 10 seconds and 2 penalty points for that move was quite harsh. Especially since it was marginal and Norris kept the position. Russell got 5 seconds and no penalty points for similar move on Bottas in Austin and that was described as harsh by Toto.
The second move was definitely over the limit but at the end of the day, he was penalised for it and served both of his penalties. His penalties would soon rack up if he continues to try such overtakes so I don’t think it’s as big a problem as people make it out to be.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
1st November 2024, 17:44
I largely agree with Leclerc take, though having seen how weakly Norris defended on lap one in Austin, I’m not sure he’d be up to running off track to take another driver with him.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st November 2024, 6:33
”I also think that whoever in his position might just do the same”
– I highly doubt, given Mexico’s T7 is far from a typical overtaking place.
Doh
1st November 2024, 15:02
But the British media is biased
It’s actually quite funny if you think about turn 7, what he did there was worse than Silverstone 2021 much worse. A high speed corner with less run off than copse and he sent it down the inside when back in 21 Horner was saying you don’t pass into copse. That was a clear battle for position with cars offline and alongside each other yet this gets a pass because it max and redbull and oh no the British press. Norris expected it but had he turned in that would have been a big shunt.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
1st November 2024, 18:10
I think Charles needs to show a little spine – I understand that Ferrari are fighting for the WDC but enabling Max to do what he does is probably as bad as Max’s driving.
Also, Charles should be condemning Max especially given the way the two race which benefits Max all day long unless Charles has a car that can jump over Max’s and disappear. Not a bad idea for Ferrari to consider making a car that can defeat Max by jumping over his car.