Formula 1, Verstappen: Reprimanded for incident with Norris, holds pole position

Lando Norris has publicly explained that when the Brit’s McLaren was approaching at high speed, Verstappen deliberately swerved to the left – forcing Norris to veer off the track to avoid him – to prevent him from overtaking and clear a path for his first to have a fast lap in Q3.

After Verstappen’s apology to the Stewards’ Office, where he claimed he had simply lost control of the rear of the Red Bull RB18 because he still had cold tyres, the latter ruled that the Dutchman was not violating article 33.4 of the racing code on slow or dangerous driving which puts other drivers at risk.

Nonetheless, they gave Verstappen his first reprimand of the year. As a result, the Dutchman retained the pole position he had previously taken during the thrilling qualifying tests for the Japanese GP, 10 millimeters behind Charles Leclerc and half a tenth of a second behind Carlos Sainz.

The stewards accepted that the low temperature of his tires was the reason “caused the temporary loss of control in a counter-clockwise orbit”as Max accelerated just as Norris tried to pass him.

The announcement of the race control continued “the driver of car #4 [Νόρις] Explained that this was simply an unfortunate incident, however it is the driver’s responsibility to remain in control of the car at all times.” So they decided to give Max Verstappen a simple reprimand.