Lando Norris received a five-second time penalty at the 2024 United States Grand Prix because the stewards found he had left the track at Turn 12 and rejoined ahead of Max Verstappen, gaining a lasting advantage. Verstappen was not penalized for that incident. The stewards’ written decision on Norris does not contain a separate ruling on Verstappen, so the accurate description is that no penalty followed, not that he was formally cleared.
What the stewards decided
The stewards’ decision, Document 69, records the infringement as a breach of Article 33.3 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, and the incident took place during the race at Turn 12 on 20 October 2024. The stewards said they reviewed positioning and marshalling system data, video and in-car footage before reaching their finding. Their decision is the primary source for everything below: FIA Document 69, 2024 United States Grand Prix, Car 4, leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
The corner-right finding
The central point is not simply that both cars went wide. The stewards’ stated finding was that Norris, attempting an outside pass, was not level with Verstappen at the apex. Applying the Driving Standards Guidelines, they concluded that Norris had lost the right to the corner. Because he left the track and came back in front, they treated the move as leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage. The decision states this in two sentences that are worth reading in full:
“Car 4 was overtaking Car 1 on the outside, but was not level with Car 1 at the apex.”
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“Accordingly as Car 4 left the track and returned in front of Car 1, it is deemed to be a case of leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage.”
Car 4 is Norris and Car 1 is Verstappen. The stewards also said they would not count the incident as a track-limits infringement against Norris. That is a separate question from the five-second sporting penalty, which concerns the advantage gained by leaving the circuit.
Why the penalty was five seconds, not ten
The decision states that the guidelines recommend a ten-second penalty for this type of case. The stewards reduced it to five for two reasons in their own words: Norris had already committed to the outside move, and because Verstappen was close and had also left the track, Norris had little alternative but to leave the circuit himself. This is the stewards’ stated mitigation, not an independent reconstruction of the racing line, and it should be presented that way.
Why Verstappen received no penalty in this decision
The FIA’s race report describes Norris attacking around the outside at Turn 12, both drivers running wide, and Norris passing off the track. It reports that Verstappen moved into third following Norris’s penalty. The FIA race report confirms that outcome.
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The FIA’s event decision index lists Document 69 as the decision concerning Norris and Document 78 as McLaren’s later Right of Review. It does not list a separate Turn 12 penalty decision against Verstappen. That supports saying he received no penalty for this incident. It does not support saying the stewards cleared his driving, because Document 69 judges Norris’s conduct and makes no separate finding on Verstappen’s. The two drivers were not assessed under identical charges in a single ruling, so the difference in outcome should be explained by the stewards’ finding on Norris’s position at the apex and his exit from the track.
Verstappen’s own view of the move is a participant’s opinion, not a stewards’ finding. In the FIA post-race press conference he said, “you can’t overtake outside of the white line.” That statement belongs to Verstappen, not to the FIA or its decision. The FIA post-race press conference transcript records it.
McLaren’s Right of Review
McLaren petitioned for a Right of Review under Article 14 of the FIA International Sporting Code. At the hearing it argued that the stewards’ statement that Norris was not level with Verstappen at the apex was wrong, and that it had evidence Norris was ahead at the braking zone. The stewards rejected the petition. An alleged error in the original decision could not by itself serve as the new element needed to justify a review, and they found no relevant new element.
The stewards also noted that the Article 14 threshold is very high, and they drew attention to how it applies to decisions made during a race session, when not all parties may be present. The review did not overturn the five-second penalty. The petition was rejected, so it should not be described as a successful appeal. The FIA Document 78 Right of Review decision sets out this outcome.
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A same-race comparison: Tsunoda and Albon
Other drivers were penalized for Turn 12 incidents in the same race, which gives useful context for how the stewards handled corner-related moves. The most directly comparable decision is Document 67, concerning Yuki Tsunoda and Alexander Albon. It is not a like-for-like case, because it involves an inside overtake and a forcing-off finding under a different rule.
| Item | Norris (Document 69) | Tsunoda (Document 67) |
|---|---|---|
| Incident type | Outside pass at Turn 12, leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage | Inside pass at Turn 12, forcing Alexander Albon off the track |
| Rule cited | Article 33.3 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, with the Driving Standards Guidelines | Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2(b) of the International Sporting Code |
| Guideline penalty | Ten seconds | Ten seconds |
| Penalty imposed | Five seconds | Five seconds |
| Stated mitigation | Committed to the outside move; Verstappen close and also off track, leaving little alternative | Forcing was not deliberate; Tsunoda remained in control |
In the Tsunoda decision the stewards said the guideline required a driver overtaking on the inside to leave a fair and acceptable width. That is a different test from the one applied to Norris, so the comparison shows how the same penalty level was reached through different findings, not that the two incidents were judged identically. The source is FIA Document 67.
What the record does and does not establish
- Established: Norris received a five-second penalty for leaving the track at Turn 12 and gaining a lasting advantage, under the stewards’ corner-right finding.
- Established: The stewards cited the ten-second guideline and reduced the penalty to five, giving the reasons above.
- Established: McLaren’s Right of Review was rejected, and the penalty stood.
- Not established: A formal finding that Verstappen’s driving was acceptable. The documents show no separate penalty for him in this incident, and that is the extent of what they say.
- Not established: Why no separate sanction was considered for Verstappen beyond what Document 69 states. The FIA documents reviewed do not explain that question, so it should not be answered as fact.
For the most accurate headline framing, the cause of Norris’s penalty is the stewards’ finding about his position at the apex and his exit from the track. The absence of a penalty for Verstappen is a fact about the published decisions, not a ruling on his conduct.
The FIA’s 2024 United States Grand Prix event decision index lists the documents for the event and is the place to check for any later additions.
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