Toto Wolff accuses F1 stewards of 'bias' after Lando Norris penalty in Max Verstappen fight

Toto Wolff said ' penalty in Austin was "odd and bizarre" as he suggested "bias" played a part in the decision to punish the racer.

He picked up the penalty in after an overtake on was ruled to have been illegal. A five second penalty saw Norris finish behind his title rival despite being ahead on the road.

Norris had attempted to overtake around the outside of turn one when both he and Verstappen went off the track. The Brit came back on ahead and McLaren were convinced he was in front when both cars reached the apex of the corner, but the stewards disagreed.

Speaking over the radio to his driver , made it clear where he stood on Norris' punishment. Russell asked as he trundled back to the pits: "Did Verstappen get a penalty for that at turn one?"

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

And the Austrian replied: "No he did not get a penalty and, at the end, Lando got a penalty for being forced off while overtaking on the outside there. I guess it was pretty biased decision-making." Russell agreed that it was a "strange" decision.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 pit lane reported shortly after that radio exchange, Wolff again hinted at unfair penalties being given by the stewards but stopped short of directly accusing them of favouring Verstappen and his team.

He said: "It is inconsistent. We have seen a few of those incidents which were exactly the same which were not penalised... receiving that penalty is just completely odd and bizarre. I think we know why, but obviously you cannot say that on television. Sometimes there are correlations when there is decision-making that is interesting."

as a result of the race's outcome. He is now 57 points adrift of the Dutchman with five rounds remaining and, though he claimed he was "not going to complain" about the way the Red Bull racer defended, he said Verstappen had "gone in way too hard" and forced him off the track.

He said: "It was pretty tight, Max went for a tight gap... he had obviously committed quite a bit which he has got the right to do. But, again, he went completely off track. He defends by going off track, he overtakes by going off track."

And his boss added: "The way the stewards interfered with a beautiful piece of motorsport was inappropriate. Both cars went off track so both cars gained an advantage. It is a shame because it cost us a podium in a race where we stayed patient after we were pushed off in the first corner."