The fallout from multiple incidents in Austin headlined the main talking points on Thursday at Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Here’s what we learned from speaking to the drivers and teams.
An amusing Norris tape revelation…
At last weekend’s United States GP Red Bull got a €50k fine, half of which was suspended, after a team member ignored pit marshals’ instructions to go back through the opening in the pitwall at the start of the formation lap.
As we revealed that night, their target was to remove the tape that McLaren and Lando Norris use as a backup for when he pulls into his grid box and tries to be as far forward as possible without going over.
But Norris had his own revelation on Thursday in Mexico: he didn’t even need to use the tape anyway.
“We just put it there in case,” he said. “So it made it extra funny because they got a penalty for it and I didn’t even need it.”
Interference with the tape is not against any F1 rules even though it was criticised by some as unsporting. Norris had quite a jovial reaction to the whole story and some of the details indicate it was quite a light-hearted affair.
McLaren’s tactics included using two layers of tape and writing a message on the second that read “better luck next time”. – SMM
…but the mischief is over anyway
McLaren will keep using the tape for Norris but the fun and games are over anyway.
Andrea Stella and Laurent Mekies, the two team bosses, have discussed the matter this week.
While it is widely seen as an example of the kind of shenanigans that can unfold between rivals, and seemed good-natured enough, Stella and Mekies are both understood to be keen that a line is drawn under it before it escalates or becomes a distraction.
Neither wants the McLaren-Red Bull rivalry to become problematic, especially as the championship fight heats up in the final races.
Plus the fact is that in the US it did lead to a breach of the rules and, in a worst case scenario, that could have led to the race start being delayed. – SMM
Norris punishment undone after Piastri crash
The two McLaren drivers have a “clean slate” for the rest of the season after Oscar Piastri took “some responsibility” for their crash in the United States Grand Prix sprint race.
That means the mini-saga and mystery over Lando Norris and his “consequences” for hitting Piastri in the Singapore Grand Prix has ended after just one weekend.
McLaren’s post-event review concluded that Piastri could have been more careful in how he cut back across the track at the start of the sprint, which led to a multi-car crash that wiped out Piastri and Norris.
The US GP was the first event where Norris had to serve a minor sporting penalty imposed by McLaren which is understood to have given Piastri choice of when to leave the garage in the final part of qualifying. So he could have dictated his track position in Q3 for the rest of the season.
Now it’s game on, back to normal, alternating turns out of garage – with McLaren aware it has a big external threat from Max Verstappen to spend more energy worrying about. – SMM
Alpine team orders row resolved – sort of
Franco Colapinto’s decision to pass Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly against team instructions for 17th at the end of the US Grand Prix drew harsh words from team management and seemed a bold tactic for a driver trying to secure their future – especially when the pass was over a literally point-less result.
Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen declared it would be ‘reviewed and dealt with’, emphasising that pitwall instructions were “final”.
Neither Gasly nor Colapinto was willing to open up on how it had been dealt with, just that it was now resolved.
“We spoke with the team and we discussed everything and I think it’s all quite good and clear,” said Colapinto – but it took several attempts from the media pack before he acknowledged that Nielsen’s comments implied that it was Colapinto who’d been in the wrong.
“I fully agree and a team instruction should always be obeyed,” Colapinto admitted.
“But also the situations are tricky and I think as a driver it was natural for me at the moment to compete. We went through it with the team.”
Gasly said it was “still difficult to understand why” it had happened over 17th and 18th place. And while he also went down the ‘it’s sorted’ route, his reply when asked to assess Colapinto’s performance at Alpine had a few pointed elements.
“Overall, as an individual he has done well. And that’s it,” Gasly replied.
“Obviously what he has done last Sunday doesn’t reflect what he has achieved as a driver.
“Was it his finest decision? No. Will he learn from it? Yes.
“But the nice thing overall is he’s doing a good job for the team. I think it’s important just to pull forward in the same direction as a team, and this is what we need to do, especially in the times we are currently in.” – Matt Beer
Penalised Sainz riled by rules ‘weakness’
Carlos Sainz arrived at the Mexican Grand Prix still clearly annoyed at picking up a grid drop for his collision with Kimi Antonelli at Austin – with his biggest frustration being the way stewards decisions are made.
Sainz believes that taking the grid hit is “disproportionate” to the crime, and suggests it speaks more about a fundamental flaw in the system.
“It exposes a bit the weaknesses in the rules that we have,” he said.
“Honestly, after looking at the data and all the onboards that we looked at, the fact that they still decided to give me five places for here is difficult to understand, difficult to accept.”
Sainz’s main ire, which he intends to bring up in the Qatar F1 drivers’ meeting that is planned with the FIA, is that stewards seem obsessed with following to the letter the guidelines they have in their hands.
“A guideline can help you to see an accident or try and evaluate an accident, but this guideline is not a rule,” added the Williams driver, repeating an argument he first raised after the Dutch GP when he was initially penalised for a clash with Liam Lawson then had it rescinded a week later after Williams used the right of review process.
“Sometimes these guidelines are being applied for any kind of situation on track, which I find a bit interesting and not exactly the way I would judge an accident if I was a steward.” – Jon Noble
What’s bringing out the best in Verstappen
Max Verstappen is not only benefitting from a faster Red Bull in this title chase – he is also able to set it up more as he likes it now.
Red Bull’s ongoing upgrades this side of the summer break, starting with the new front wing at Monza, and better understanding of its car have moved it into a sweet spot that has made it a more consistent force at the front.
Verstappen’s used that to great effect, winning in Italy, Azerbaijan and the United States, to haul himself into contention in the title fight.
In Mexico, he revealed that the biggest difference now is that the car can be run “in a different configuration” – which many believe to mean, on a simple level, running closer to the ground – and this unlocks “quite a bit more pace” and less sliding on the tyres.
But it can also be set up more to Verstappen’s preference: “Naturally It gives me more confidence and it allows us to set up the car a little more aggressive, a little more on the nose without losing the rear for example.
“And that’s exactly what you want.”
This situation appears to be bringing the best out of Verstappen, who is the hunter rather than the hunted in the title battle for the first time. Verstappen feels it “doesn’t really change a lot for him” but admits the narrative of his season has been “very different”.
“To still be in this fight, it’s very surprising,” he said. “But I take it. And now we need to be perfect. But for me, it’s just positive pressure.
“I’m loving what I’m doing. If the car is competitive, it’s much better to be racing in it than when it’s not. I know until the end, you can’t afford any bad luck or mistakes.
“But this team has shown in the past that normally we perform really well under pressure anyway.” – SMM
What Hadjar thinks Red Bull should notice
Isack Hadjar’s barely hiding his confidence that a Red Bull Racing promotion is looking good for next year – and has a strong argument for why he thinks Red Bull “should” be happy with his season.
Hadjar’s quickly established himself as one of F1’s most self-critical and rarely pleased drivers. So even though his future rests on what Red Bull thinks of him, how does he judge his season given Hadjar is often his own harshest critic?
“I feel like I’ve done a good job so far this year,” he said when asked him that.
“Honestly, even like the results, I think they don’t reflect the speed I’ve had. I’m not talking about qualifying and race. I’m talking about every free practice session of every year of every track, I’ve been on it.
“I haven’t felt like there was a session where I was like three tenths away. I can’t explain why. It’s never happened to me.
“So in a way, I’m very happy about that. If I’m fine with my season, then they should be as well.”
Aside from that, Hadjar’s letting little slip. He laughed when he was asked if he knew his future, but just couldn’t say, and said he would like to find out his fate at the end of the year – and all questions be held until then! – as finds the “noise” around the situation “more annoying than anything”.
But it’s a good position to be in for a driver who a year ago didn’t even know he’d definitely get his F1 promotion at all.
“Twelve months ago it was a bit unsure, that’s true,” Hadjar said.
“I had an idea, but it’s true that this year I’m in a better position.
“I know I’m in Formula 1 next year. Last year I didn’t know what I was doing so I’m a lot less panicked.” – SMM
Ocon’s struggling with another big Haas upgrade
Esteban Ocon is once again struggling to get on top of a Haas aerodynamic upgrade, this time the one that was introduced at Austin last weekend.
Just as when the car ran a new package at Suzuka and Silverstone earlier this season, he’s run into trouble with a lack of confidence in the high-speed corners and what he calls “high-speed instability”.
In particular, this was a problem at Turn 5 in the Circuit of The America’s high-speed esses, where Ocon couldn’t be as aggressive as he wanted. That sapped laptime, despite him being strong in some of the slower corners. He revealed that he had to run a little less front wing at Austin compared to Bearman, which is indicative of struggling with too positive a turn-in and the resulting rear instability.
Bearman, meanwhile, simply wants more time to get to grips with a package that team principal Ayao Komatsu says “as far as we can measure went as expected” having only bolted it on for qualifying in Austin. And that points to a difference in their driving styles, whereby Bearman can tolerate more rear instability in the high speed generally. Komatsu points to the Saudi Arabian grand Prix weekend as another example of this.
“I don’t think it’s just about updates, it [high-speed confidence] is generally the bit Esteban is finding more challenging” says Komatsu.
“If you remember Jeddah, it was exactly the same high-speed change of direction, and if you look at Austin it’s as bumpy as hell. So if you put the high speed change of direction and add bumps, that’s where he’s finding it challenging.
“I don’t think it’s specific to the upgrade, it’s more about this year’s car because even though you have upgrades and improve characteristics, you don’t suddenly change the car characteristics upside down.” – Edd Straw
Tsunoda’s apologised to his former team 
Yuki Tsunoda apologised to his former Racing Bulls team for comments he made about Liam Lawson at the United States Grand Prix.
Tsunoda complained after qualifying: “Lawson, usual story, always does something on purpose and some s**t, it’s him. I don’t care about him.”
That came after Tsunoda had complained about Lawson racing him on his final outlap in sprint qualifying.
This led to a slightly awkward exchange in the Mexican GP Thursday press conference, when they were asked if they’d cleared the air.
It went as follows:
Tsunoda:: I don’t think we have spoken in person.
Lawson: I don’t really know what happened in Austin to be honest.
YT: I apologised to the team, to VCARB. What I said, especially in the media was very unnecessary. And I think… yeah. That’s it.
LL: Yeah. I mean, it’s an intense part of the season. Obviously, each weekend’s going to be tough. It’s just incredibly close this year. So each session – especially in qualifying – we’re trying to extract everything. So it’s the little things that make a difference.
With Isack Hadjar likely to be promoted to Red Bull Racing and Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad set for one Racing Bulls seat, it seems Tsunoda and Lawson are scrapping to get the final seat.
That perhaps partly explains the on-and-off-track tension between them, which isn’t too dissimilar to what we saw between Lawson and his former seat rival Sergio Perez at the end of last year.
One of their F1 careers is very likely to end in the next few weeks, so the stakes could seldom be higher. – Josh Suttill