Lando Norris says the inconsistency of stewarding decisions is frustrating after he lost third place at the United States Grand Prix by overtaking Max Verstappen off track.

Verstappen overtook Norris early in the race by moving to the inside of Turn 1, but on corner exit he pushed both drivers off the track as the Red Bull completed the attack. This incident went unnoticed by the stewards, but later in the race Norris was given a five-second time penalty when he overtook Verstappen on the outside at Turn 12 and the championship leader’s defense again saw both drivers go off the track.

“It’s tough,” Norris said. “There are various changes in things. It is a difficult task to manage such things. For me, I did whatever I did. For me the point that is wrong is what Max did, namely defending his position by going off the track and effectively maintaining his position, which is not correct.

“He got off track on defense, defended too hard and made a mistake and so he benefited from it. At the same time I had to leave the track. It’s impossible for people to know whether I could have made it down the track or not. You can’t manage something like that.

“But those are the rules. They seem to be changing because it seems quite inconsistent compared to what happened in Austria, where Max didn’t get a penalty and went off the track, giving himself an advantage. There are inconsistencies again, but it’s tough.

“For me it’s just a hasty decision. They don’t hear or understand our arguments about what they should do after the race. They just want to make a decision at this point so that points, podiums and things like that don’t get changed. Therefore, it is a hasty decision and they do not hear my point of discussion, my team’s point of view, or Max’s point of view, which in my opinion may not be the most correct.

“There was a penalty today. There’s not much I can do other than just accept this. I tried, we both tried, it was a great fight, I really enjoyed it, it was tough. Max rode very well and defended very well, but in the end he came out on top, so congratulations to him.”

Norris dropped from third ahead of Verstappen to fourth behind him as a result of the penalty and says it is particularly difficult to battle with the Dutchman because he drives so hard and believes there were several occasions where the The Red Bull driver’s movements could have been punished.

“I think both times Max came off the track, he had a lot of effort to keep me behind him,” said the McLaren driver. “With Max, you have to commit. People don’t understand things like that. You can’t be half-hearted with Max.

“In Turn 1 it’s a little harder to say if it’s because I didn’t commit enough, but the fact that he showed so much speed… he went off the track again. I mean, I can’t just dive inside someone, run away, and then maintain the position in normal running. But for some reason it’s completely fine in turn 1 on the first lap. It’s a difficult question…It hurts today.”

However, Norris made it clear that his disappointment was due to the uncertainty caused by the stewarding rather than Verstappen himself because of the battle they had put up.

“I think Max drove very well,” he explained. “It’s very hard to do what we do. Sitting side by side and completely on the side of the road, it’s hard to guess where the brake marker is. You are traveling faster than before because you have used up the battery. The tires are older, there are various bumps, a lot of dirt…

“We fight and fight hard, so I respect the fight we put up. It was good, it was fun. I think it was respectful. I don’t think I did the right thing in Turn 1, but I felt like what happened at the end of the race was more my side. Otherwise it was a good fight that I enjoyed. We just weren’t ahead because I didn’t do a good enough job.

“A little clarity. But look, if I had defended better going into Turn 1 and not driven like a Muppet… I should have led going into Turn 1 and we shouldn’t have had this conversation in the first place.”