Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that the double penalty imposed on Max Verstappen during the F1 Mexico Grand Prix will alter how all drivers approach racing moving forward. F1 defending champion Verstappen received two 10-second penalties in Mexico—one for forcing Lando Norris off the track early in the race and the other for overtaking him outside track limits shortly after.

These incidents, along with the stewards’ strict approach, occurred just a week after the controversy surrounding Norris receiving a five-second penalty for an off-track overtake during his clash with Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix. Verstappen’s aggressive defense at Austin and his determination to reach the apex first—driven by the rules—have prompted calls for a revision of F1’s Driving Standards Guidelines.

Although changes won’t be implemented until the Qatar Grand Prix, Wolff believes that Verstappen’s inability to evade penalties this time will significantly deter such tactics from becoming common practice. Having directly witnessed Verstappen’s aggression during Lewis Hamilton’s title fight in 2021, Wolff feels that the ruling in Mexico could lead to behavioral changes among drivers.

A driver will always push to the limit, and when the rules—or the interpretation of the rules—allow a certain way of racing, a driver like Max is always going to exploit it. I think now there has been a new interpretation and execution of those regulations that I think will change the way everybody races in the future. You won’t see that anymore, said Wolff.

I always say that the drivers know exactly what’s happening. You know when somebody is releasing the brake too late and just drags you into the corner and pushes you wide. From the early days in go-karts, you know that you’re not going to survive on the outside if you’re not ahead. So, I think the rules are pretty clear, and the drivers know that the former Australian racing driver added.

Everybody’s trying to push that, and if you get away with things, that is the new limit. So, will it change? Absolutely. I think now there is precedent, and I think there were others taking penalties in the race too. From now on, you’ve got to leave space on the outside of the corner if the car is next to you. Braking late and dragging the other car out of the track whilst also driving off track—I think that’s not on anymore. That’s not allowed, and I think it’s good for racing, he asserted.

Wolff believes that it is essential to establish clear rules requiring drivers to give their competitors space on the outside to ensure quality racing. However, while Wolff feels that the current conditions for racing are better, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has an opposing perspective. He is concerned that the recent regulations may lead drivers to cling to positions on the outside for too long.

It used to be a reward for the bravest to go around the outside. I think we’re in danger of flipping the overtaking laws upside down, where drivers will just try to get their nose ahead at the apex and then claim that they have to be given room on the exit, Horner admitted.

You can see quite clearly that Norris has effectively come off the brakes, gone in super, super late, to try and win that argument, as far as the way these regulations are written, and then at that point, you’re penalized. In every indoor karting circuit around the world, if you get the inside line, you control the corner. It’s one of the principles in the physics of racing, he added.