Why Verstappen had to be punished (twice) at the Mexican GP

Max Verstappen's two penalties at the Mexican Grand Prix reflected the fact that he had clearly broken Formula One racing rules in his battle with Lando Norris, having been just on the right side of them in the United States.

Verstappen was hit with two 10-second penalties for separate incidents with Norris just a few corners apart at the start of the race in Mexico City.

This came a week after he escaped sanction in the US for two controversial moments against the McLaren driver: he overtook him with a jump into the first corner at the start, then ran off the track and forced Norris later in the race to defend his position.

Verstappen's violations were more flagrant in Mexico than in Austin, where he took advantage of the racing guidelines that served as the stewards' main reference for assessing combat incidents.

Last week Verstappen lived up to the letter of the law. He kept his own car on track at the start, where he also probably benefited from the stewards' extra leniency on the first lap, and later in the race he decisively regained the lead at the apex as Norris attempted to complete an overtaking maneuver on the outside .

The way the stewards judged this move meant that Verstappen had earned the right to push Norris at the exit, even if Verstappen himself went slightly off the track – because the guidelines no longer indicate that the car is on the inside has to fall by the wayside.

That is likely to change as part of a plan to revise the guidelines before the end of this season in the wake of what happened in Austin, as other drivers feel it is a loophole that shouldn't exist and the matter in Mexico was discussed in detail on Friday.

However, what Verstappen did in the US was technically fine with the guidelines in their current form. However, in Mexico he clearly crossed the finish line twice.

The first 10-second penalty was imposed because Norris was pushed off the track. As in Austin, Norris tried to overtake Verstappen around the outside – only this time he managed to get a better overlap in the corner and on the exit. He was at the apex next to Verstappen, not behind him, and held that position until Verstappen forced him to get away.

Norris rejoined the track ahead of the Red Bull (and also ahead of leader Carlos Sainz, whom he immediately left behind by accidentally passing the Ferrari).

A few corners later, Verstappen launched an unrealistic retaliatory move into the medium-speed left-hander at the start of the laps. He passed Norris on the inside, but ran far into the run-off zone and took Norris with him.

This resulted in another 10-second penalty for going off the track and gaining an advantage, as this time he overtook on the inside, Verstappen had to stay on the track – whereas in Austin this did not apply to Verstappen, but to Norris is considered overtaking from the outside.