By james art The team invoked the “right of review” by asking the stewards to re-examine the incident at Turn 12 in Austin, where Norris received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining a sustained advantage while passing Max Verstappen in the closing stages.
It dropped the British driver below his title rival as the Dutchman extended his championship lead to 57 points.
Ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, Norris reiterated his view that the penalty was unfair and said he believed Verstappen, who also left the track, was only ahead at the top because he stopped late and had no intention of taking the corner.
McLaren believe they have “a significant and new element that was not available to us at the time of the decision” – which is the criteria needed for the right of review to continue.
A video hearing with the stewards took place at 2.30pm local time on Friday in Mexico City and the FIA announced on Friday evening that McLaren’s claim had been dismissed as there was no “relevant new element”.
McLaren’s argument was based on their view that Norris overtook Verstappen before the pit stop and as such was not the attacking car, which was the basis on which the stewards made their decision.
In response to the rejection of their right to review, McLaren said in a statement: “We do not agree with the interpretation that an FIA document which makes a driver aware of an objective, measurable and demonstrable error in a decision made by the stewards cannot be an eligible “item” that meets the four criteria defined by the ISC as set out in Article 14.3.
“We will continue to work closely with the FIA to further understand how teams can constructively challenge decisions that result in a race being misclassified.”
Speaking ahead of the FIA’s decision, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner maintained his view that the stewards had made the right decision and said McLaren regularly targeted his team.
“When you’re running tight end, that’s when everything comes under more scrutiny. McLaren are quite vocal about many parts of our team, our car, the stewards etc.,” said Horner.
“There are criteria that it (the right of review) has to meet. Not sure if it fills in, I don’t think there is any new evidence.
“You have to trust the process, the stewards are in a difficult position. I thought the calls they made were absolutely fair and spot on over the weekend. You cannot overtake a car off the track.