Mercedes struggled immensely for pace at the US GP, with their latest upgrades failing to deliver. Not long after Hamilton spun out in the early stages of Sunday’s race, George Russell receiving a penalty for ‘forcing another driver off track’. According to Toto Wolff, the stewards showed signs of bias in their penalty decisions.
Wolff unhappy with the FIA after controversial COTA penalties
The US GP was another difficult race for Mercedes, who failed to build upon their encouraging pace in Sprint qualifying.
After fighting at the very front on Friday, the W15 went backwards as the weekend progressed. However, there was another issue that dominated the conversation at the Texan circuit.
Several penalties were awarded throughout the race for forcing other drivers off track. The most controversial of these sanctions was awarded to Lando Norris after overtaking Max Verstappen for 3rd place.
As both drivers compete for the Championship, this duel has understandably become a huge talking points.
Suggestions of “biased decision-making”
Toto Wolff is obviously no stranger to being on the receiving end of penalties from the stewards. Speaking to George Russell in the cool-down lap, the Mercedes team principal answered Russell’s question about Verstappen’s first lap move on Norris:
“He [Verstappen] didn’t get a penalty. And at the end, Lando got a penalty for being forced off and overtaking on the outside. I guess it is a bit biased decision-making.
Wolff later gave his thoughts on the FIA’s decisions in a post-race interview:
“It is inconsistent,” he told Sky Sports. “With Valtteri [who Russell was penalised for overtaking], it wasn’t even a race.
“We saw a few of those incidents [in the Sprint] that were exactly the same and weren’t penalised when racing for positions, real positions actually. So receiving that penalty is completely odd and bizarre.
“I think we know why, but I can’t say that on television.”
Inevitably, incidents such as these are bound to dominate F1 news headlines. This is especially true in the context of Verstappen and Norris fighting for this year’s title.
The penalties awarded at Sunday’s US GP were, generally speaking, quite unusual. It is not typical that drivers are given time penalties so frequently when making overtakes – particularly in the absence of contact.
Over the coming days, drivers and teams will look for clarity on the rules of engagement in wheel-to-wheel duels.
