Why the stewards deserve all praises after the Norris incident

Whether watching from the stands or at home in front of the TV, it’s all too easy to second-guess a Grand Prix without the pressure or detailed knowledge of the rules. Let the brave keyboard warriors have their say. Meanwhile, the stewards on duty in Montreal should remain unfazed by social media chatter—they can reflect on an excellent performance.

During the Canadian weekend, two incidents stood out, and in both cases, the stewards made the right call. The first involved Red Bull Racing’s protest against Russell’s victory, claiming the Mercedes driver tried to shift a penalty onto Max Verstappen. As explained earlier, if anyone deserved a penalty after that incident, it was Verstappen.

The second incident involved a near-collision between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Norris made an overly ambitious move to overtake his McLaren teammate late in the race, diving into a gap that simply wasn’t there, resulting in contact with the wall and damage to his car. Juan Pablo Montoya believed Norris deserved a harsher penalty, but the stewards opted for a five-second time penalty instead.

Although Norris was out of the race, the stewards still decided to impose a five-second time penalty on him. This signalled, ‘Your action was not acceptable, and you deserve a penalty for it’. Of course, Norris had already retired, but had nothing been done, Norris might have been under the impression that his action was permissible. Now it is crystal clear: it is not.

Norris did not receive any penalty points on his racing license, unlike Max Verstappen, who picked up three penalty points in Spain following his collision with George Russell. The key difference in Montreal was that Norris simply misjudged the situation. While that mistake warranted a penalty, it was not a deliberate act to endanger a fellow competitor on track.

Undoubtedly, not everyone agrees with the stewards’ decisions, with some accusing them of a British bias, saying, “Punish Max, not Lando.” It’s important to note that not a single British official was among the stewards in Canada. If there’s any claim of British bias, it simply doesn’t hold up.