In the context of Max Verstappen going into ‘protect late championship points lead by threat of contact with the title rival’ mode, exactly as we saw late-season ’21, the setting for this weekend’s race is very significant.
Interlagos is a track layout perfectly configured for overtaking and general wheel-to-wheel action. In particular, the section from Junção (Turn 12) at the bottom of the hill, right the way through to Turns 4/5 of the following lap can potentially be one long manoeuvre for position, consisting of over half the track distance. Whichever place you try to defend ends up creating an opportunity elsewhere on the lap. The idea of being able to successfully defend position here against a faster car is a fairly weak one.
But Verstappen managed it for a long time in ’21 against Lewis Hamilton. He extended the number of laps he stayed ahead by his infamous Turn 4, ‘take the battle for position way off the track’ defence of what would otherwise have been a Hamilton pass. It was a tactic he repeated last weekend at Turn 7 in Mexico against Lando Norris.
Back in ’21 Hamilton, having avoided the contact Verstappen was more than willing to have (as it would freeze his points advantage if they both retired), regrouped and made the move work a few laps later by getting it completed on the corner approach – ie before Verstappen could force him wide.
The stewards’ guidance notes for such matters changed from ’22 as a result of Verstappen’s moves in Brazil and Jeddah ‘21. As a result, what was not penalised at Turn 4 in Brazil was given a 10sec penalty at Turn 7 Mexico last week.
You may have heard over the radio Verstappen’s apparent indifference to the penalty. Of course he was indifferent; he’d succeeded in putting Norris back behind him. Norris, needing to avoid contact above all else and seeing how he’d been driven him off the road three times in his last three Verstappen encounters (Austin T12, Mexico T4 and T7), felt obliged to sit behind the Red Bull until it pitted out of his way and took its penalties. Only then did Norris’s race really begin. Being behind Verstappen’s slower Red Bull for all those laps had left him 15sec behind the race-leading Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. He’d got this down to less than 5sec at the flag – suggesting he’d been denied a very real chance of victory by what was deemed to be an illegal move by Verstappen. Penalising Verstappen 10sec wasn’t ever going to give Norris his lost time back. So that penalty had not served the function of ensuring a fair competition.
