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Skulduggery in Texas. Red Bull have been fined £37,250 after one of their team tried to remove a piece of tape guiding McLaren’s Lando Norris to his grid box ahead of last Sunday’s US Grand Prix.
The stewards found that the culprit ‘re-entered the gate well area at Gate One in proximity to the second grid position’, belonging to Norris, as the cars had driven off on the formation lap.
McLaren regularly place a marker on the wall to help Norris line up correctly for the start, given the limited view of the white lines on the track from inside the cockpit.
Neither using the marker nor or a rival removing it is illegal and the verdict did not refer to tape-tampering.
The offence related to trying to get on the track, ‘at the moment the pit marshals started to close the gate.'
Half the fine is suspended for the rest of the season on condition of not reoffending.
Red Bull have been fined £37,250 after one of their team interfered with Lando Norris' race prior to Max Verstappen's United States Grand Prix win
McLaren regularly place a marker on the wall to help Norris line up correctly for the start, but a member of the Red Bull team tried to remove it
Norris, meanwhile, went on to finish second behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who is now just 40 points behind McLaren's Oscar Pastri in the drivers' championship.
The Dutchman has five race wins this season - the same as Norris and two fewer than Piastri.
