[Noah930]

I realize everybody's got a different opinion on the Max-Lando battle at the end. But if I were a steward, I would not have punished Lando for the pass. Play on. Yes, the pass occurred off the track (Max was ahead at the apex), but like they say in the NFL, it was a bang-bang play. It's not like Lando had an option to make the corner given the line Max ran. Norris was off the track because Max made no attempt to make the corner. He ran wide on purpose to make it impossible (per the rules) to pass him. In fact, Max was totally off track as well.

But some would argue that one infraction was passing off the track (Lando) and the other was track limits (Max), so the penalties aren't the same. But as a steward, I would see it differently. The rule isn't that you can't pass off the track. The rule is that you can't leave the track and gain an advantage. After all, if a car had crashed on the track or was otherwise incapacitated, and the track was effectively blocked so all running cars had to go off track to get around the obstacle, the stewards wouldn't penalize those cars for passing off the track.

No. The rule is that you cannot leave the track to gain an advantage. While Lando left the track to gain an advantage (passing Max), no one would argue that he wasn't forced to do so by Max's maneuver (Max going wide). Max also gained an advantage (preventing Lando from passing) by going off track intentionally. Hence, like in the NFL, offsetting penalties. Because we can't replay the down in auto racing, play on.

I'll also try to find the pic I ran across of what the rule actually says. IIRC, the sentence immediately after the "cannot gain an advantage by going off the track" mentions something to the effect of "unless you are forced off the track" (I'm paraphrasing).