McLaren "trust the stewards" in title fight between Norris and Verstappen

in Austin, Texas, Norris was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage after overtaking Verstappen off the track when forced off by the Dutchman. Just seven days later in Mexico City, Verstappen was handed two ten-second time penalties for forcing the Brit off the track and driving dangerously. There have been talks surrounding the way that drivers should battle each other on the track, but that is something that Stella does not entertain.

"Not at all," the McLaren team boss started by saying in Friday's press conference in Sao Paulo when asked if Norris should do anything differently in battle with Verstappen. "When I say keep doing what we are doing, obviously, I mean it in a broad sense. But definitely, I also mean this in a very specific sense. I think we got some learning, for instance, from Austria. We got a little too close, and the points are missing from Austria, because of having had a proper collision and then being knocked out of the race, are points that we regret. We don't really regret many other points in this season"

Stella trusts the stewards despite Austin disagreement

"Potentially the one in Austin, where we still believe that the final classification isn't correct, but we respect the work of the stewards. We have tried with a right of review to find some corrections of that situation that happened in Austin. This didn't happen, we move on. 

"So I think from Lando's point of view, that's the way should be going racing. Lando reflects also, in the way goes racing, our own values. We race fair, we race in a correct way, we race in a sportsman-like way. And then ultimately, in this kind of close fights, there's a third party that is the stewarding. We trust the stewarding. I think in Mexico this worked very well and we had good racing," concluded Stella.

This article was created in collaboration with Tim Kraaij