So we had a long discussion about this incident as well in Discord after the race. I woke up late and only caught the last few laps of the race, so i didn't see the earlier episodes, and i still haven't had time to watch the full race. So i will solely focus on the Lando/Max debacle on Lap 52.
My ultimate determination is that neither driver should have gotten a penalty. I also believe the stewards erred, although not in the way that people think.
Who's the defending and attacking driver?
The problem to me is that, in the run-up to the corner, Norris managed to get
fully ahead of Verstappen - that is, his rear axle was ahead of Verstappens front axle.
This, to me, constitutes a succesful overtake. And as such, i believe that Norris should now be considered the defending driver and Verstappen the attacking driver going into the corner.
Now the stewards document makes it pretty clear that they still consider Norris the attacking driver, which i heavily disagree with. But from that perspective, Norris taking a penalty for overtaking off track makes sense.
But let's run with my take for a minute, and ask the next question...
Did Verstappen force Norris off the track?
If we run with my take, and place Verstappen as the attacking driver, and Norris as the defending driver, did Verstappen force Norris off the track?
Watching Norris onboard, i don't believe that's the case. Verstappen braked late, but so did Norris. And while they did go well side-by-side into the corner, looking at both the speed Norris carried into the corner, and his steering angle, i don't believe he could turn any harder than he did. His steering wheel was almost as far left as it could go, and any further left, he would likely understeer. The fact that he was able to accelerate past Verstappen so easily afterwards, also speaks to the speed he carried into the corner.
As such, Norris wasn't forced off the track - he went off on his own. Even if Verstappen had magically disappeared, Norris was still not gonna make that corner within track limits. At least that's my determination.
So by that standard, Verstappen did not push Norris off. But Verstappen, considered the attacking driver in my view, still overtook off track on the inside (highly unusual) - and Norris then regained the position. Had Norris not regained the position, i believe Verstappen should have been the one to be investigated for overtaking off track.
As such, neither driver gained an advantage they shouldn't have, and stewards should have ruled no further action, which eventually would have put Norris P3 and Verstappen P4.
Rewriting the rules:
In the discord, we talked a lot about that the rules need to be rewritten. I agree, but again, not in the way people think.
While most people in the Discord argued that the apex thing doesn't make sense - the most important thing i believe we need to add to the overtaking guidelines is that they need to specify when an overtake can be considered completed, so it's easier to determine which driver can be considered attacking or defending.
To me, there's two basic requirements for an overtake to be considered completed:
- The attacking driver gets his rear axle ahead of the defending drivers front axle (he's fully ahead).
- The attacking driver is ahead of the defending driver after both cars have exited a corner safely.
...if the attacking driver can satisfy either of the two above requirements without contact, then the roles swap, and he's now considered the defending driver.
Beyond that, the guidelines need to more accurately specify which responsibilities go to either the attacker or defender in an overtaking attempt. Some areas of the guidelines are rather vague on that.
