Instead, Norris kept his third place, and with it, the margin he needed to edge Max Verstappen to the 2025 championship by two points. Only after the race did the FIA spell out why what looked like a textbook offence did not lead to a sanction that, in theory, could have swung the title.
Why the stewards let Norris off
The key incident came after Norris’s first stop, when he caught Tsunoda’s Red Bull on the main straight. With Red Bull trying to delay the McLaren to help Verstappen’s title bid, the Japanese driver weaved as Norris pulled alongside, forcing the championship leader close to the grass before Turn 6. Norris still completed the pass, but only after running completely off the racing surface.
Both drivers were immediately placed under investigation: Tsunoda for forcing another car off the track, Norris for leaving the track. The written verdict by the stewards contains the crucial explanation McLaren and the title race needed.
“The driver of car 4 overtook car 22 off track, but only because car 22 made multiple defensive moves that forced car 4 to avoid contact,” the report noted.
They then highlighted that Norris would have made the move cleanly without Tsunoda’s weaving: “Had car 22 not made those moves, car 4 would have overtaken without going off the track.”
The stewards anchored their decision in the Driving Standards Guidelines, adding: “Further, the Driving Standards Guidelines say that if a car is ‘forced off’, it is not treated as exceeding track limits.”
The combination of logic and wording was decisive. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty for more than one change of direction and for effectively forcing Norris off the road, while Norris was cleared of any wrongdoing despite technically overtaking beyond track limits.
On the board, the ruling preserved the status quo: Verstappen won the race, Norris finished third, and the Briton took the championship by two points. On a narrative level, it was far bigger – a reminder that in a title decider, a single phrase in the guidelines, and a single judgement can decide whether history calls you the champion or not.
