Lando Norris was awarded a penalty when Charles Leclerc won the United States Grand Prix

Red Bull racer Max Verstappen competes with McLaren racer Lando Norris at the United States GP. (AFP/ANGELA WEISS )

THE COMPETITION to become Formula 1 champion between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris heated up following controversy at the United States (US) GP when Norris was given a penalty for passing Verstappen while competing for third place.

The race at the US GP was dominated by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who took pole position from the first lap when Norris and Verstappen went wide at the first corner.

Leclerc finished fastest ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz. However, the real drama happened behind the two Ferrari drivers.

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Norris finished third after passing Verstappen from the outside at Turn 12 with four laps left in the race but then went off track.

Norris decided not to let Verstappen return to his original position and the Dutch racer lodged a protest which was accepted by the stewards.

As a result, Norris was hit with a 5 second penalty and he had to drop to fourth place because he was only 4.1 seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Thanks to this result, Verstappen widened the gap in the drivers’ standings from Norris to 57 points when Formula 1 has five races remaining and there are still 146 points up for grabs. (bbc/Z-1)