Stella wants the FIA ​​to review Formula 1's racing guidelines following the COTA controversy

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella wants the FIA ​​to review the racing guidelines currently in place for Formula 1 and update them following the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at last weekend's United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen overtook Norris early in the race with a move that pushed both cars wide out into Turn 1, then similarly defended third place late into Turn 12 as Norris tried to overtake around the outside. While Stella saw a mitigating factor in the stewards classifying the first step as a first lap incident, she believes the way the current guidelines on driving standards are worded still leaves room for uncertainty.

“I think that 'ahead at the apex' is not relevant in terms of interpreting the overtaking maneuver,” Stella said. “I think the defending car is going straight at the apex. We checked the video several times. It just goes straight, it goes off the track just as much as Lando, it just doesn't give Lando a chance to complete the maneuver.

“If I were a journalist, I would have done a bit of statistics. How many times has Max used this type of defense when both cars went off the track? Both cars gain an advantage when there is an advantage.

“So for us this maneuver was at least neutral, but when I saw that there was a further investigation I was pretty sure it was because Max had forced Lando off the track. And in fact we said to Oscar: 'Make sure you catch up five seconds ahead of Max because a position could be at stake.' So the interpretation of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is exactly the opposite.”

Norris received a five-second time penalty on the final lap for going off track and gaining an advantage, causing him to fall behind Verstappen and no longer be on the podium. Stella also felt that the situation needed to be discussed between the stewards and the drivers involved as the incident occurred so late in the race and between two drivers fighting for the championship.

“I'm surprised that the stewards didn't even feel the need to discuss with the drivers after the race,” he said. “It is an uncertain situation. Get drivers' opinions and take the time to assess the situation with the level of detail required when the situation is not so clear.

“Where is the urgency to intervene in the outcome of a race with a championship course just because you have to make the decision in 60 seconds? It is a question mark that I think the stewards should take constructively and positively. Is it really necessary to make a decision so quickly and, in our opinion, so wrongly?”

Although it was already clear to him after the penalty was imposed that there was no realistic possibility of appealing, Stella wants the FIA ​​​​to analyze the incident.

“The decision cannot be appealed, so the matter is closed for us,” he said. “Myself, the drivers, the team, now we close this chapter. We hope that the FIA ​​​​and the stewards will look into the case so that we have better policies and better management of racing in the future. We are now concentrating on the next race.”