But stewards ruled that Norris had secured the overtake outside the track limits and would later hand him a five-second penalty – dropping him back behind Verstappen into fourth.
Speaking over his Red Bull team radio after the race,Verstappen was calm when talking about Norris’ manoeuvre.
“My god,that was a hard race,” he said. “I tried everything with the defending … that was fun. It’s just a bit weird that you can overtake outside the track.”
Later,in the press conference,Verstappen was much more blunt.
Asked if he sympathised with Norris,he simply said:“No,I don’t. They[McLaren] complain about a lot lately anyway,but it’s very clear in the rules – outside the white line[of the corner],you cannot pass. I’ve been done for it as well in the past.”
But both Norris and his team principal Andrea Stella were more expansive.
“It was obviously not an easy decision[for the stewards],otherwise it would have come a bit sooner,” Norris told host broadcaster Sky.
“I tried,he also went off the track,so if he goes off the track,clearly he’s gone in way too hard and also gained an advantage by doing what he did,but I don’t make the rules.”
Charles Leclerc celebrates his win in Texas.Credit:Getty Images
Norris also spoke about the start of the race,adding:“He’d obviously committed (to the overtake) quite a bit,which he’s got the right to do,but again he went completely off the track.
“I need to look back at it. At the same point,he’s overtaken by going off track … he defends by going off track,he overtakes by going off track,but I’m not going to complain about it. I think Max drove well,he defended well,and we had a good race together,but the rules are the rules.”
Maintaining his composure,Stella explained what would have been Norris’ podium-clinching overtake from his perspective.
“My view is that the way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate because both cars went off track,so both cars gained an advantage,” he said.
“It’s a shame because it cost us a podium – it cost us a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off in the first lap,the first corner. We accepted it.
“Having said,very clearly,our position,this kind of decision by the stewards cannot be appealed. For us the chapter is now closed and we move on to the next race.”
Throughout the race,cars across the field were constantly being assessed warnings for “exceeding the track limits”,or running too wide at various corners. It’s a sight that’s far more commonplace at newer circuits,such as in Austin,where the run-off beyond the white lines around the corners is typically bitumen,rather than gravel.
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Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri kept his car clear of danger but didn’t quite have the pace of the top four,finishing fifth. New Zealander Liam Lawson,in hisfirst race since taking Daniel Ricciardo’s former RB seat,impressed in ninth after starting second last on the grid in 19th.
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