Formula 1 drivers are looking to understand why Max Verstappen was not penalized for a controversial decision during Sunday’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

With four laps to go, McLaren’s Lando Norris left the track to overtake Red Bull’s Verstappen and incurred a five-second penalty. Verstappen, who also left the track, was not penalized for pushing Norris to the outside.

Verstappen was right as a defending car and did not have to give Norris room to pass, under current racing standards guidelines.

However, even though race stewards appear to have interpreted the rules correctly, several F1 drivers raised concerns with Motorsport.com on Friday over “the practice of drivers being able to launch inside without worrying about knowing whether or not they are able to make it around the corner, provided they are ahead of their rival at the top.

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton called it a “gray area”.

“They will probably need to make some adjustments, that’s for sure,” the Mercedes driver said of the FIA. “We also have inconsistencies in decisions depending on the stewards present. And as a sport we need to move to the next level in all areas.

“I’ve experienced this many times with Max. You shouldn’t be able to just throw the car inwards and then drive away and still hold the position.”

George Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, said he believed Verstappen was “exploring a loophole” and should have been penalized.

Chasing a fourth consecutive world title, Verstappen finished third in Austin to maintain his lead in the drivers’ standings with five races remaining. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished 1-2 in Texas and Norris finished fourth.

Sainz said he wanted the FIA ​​to define the limits of aggressive behavior by a defending vehicle.

“..It changes the way we race,” Sainz said. “That means the guy defending inside can brake as late as he wants and he can fake the fact that you’re trying to get to the top when that might not be the case.

“This needs to be clarified because in this case they were both responsible: Max for running off the track and Lando for gaining position off the track. This is why this specific scenario is very complicated in terms of the way of ruling on it.”

-Field level media