Lewis Hamilton proposed an unusual rule change that would clear up a ‘grey area’ Max Verstappen has benefitted from ‘for so long’.

Verstappen and Lando Norris were involved in a controversial moment during the United States Grand Prix as they duked it out for a spot on the podium.

Norris and Verstappen were locked in a thrilling battle during the US GPGetty

Norris looked to complete an overtake on Verstappen at turn 12 but both drivers ended up going off-track.

The McLaren star nudged himself in front of Verstappen once they rejoined the circuit but the stewards deemed it an illegal move and Norris copped a five-second penalty.

Stewards later explained Norris did not meet the requirements of a legal overtake which state a driver pushing in front from the outside must ‘have the front axle at least alongside with the front axle of the other car at the apex of the corner and to the exit.’

The five-second penalty ultimately proved costly as Verstappen finished third in the race to secure vital points in the driver’s championship.

McLaren have since launched a right of review for Norris’ penalty.

Norris isn’t the first driver to have been on the wrong end of Verstappen’s wily ability to exploit the rules and likely won’t be the last.

But if a suggestion from seven-time world champion Hamilton comes to fruition, Verstappen will have to do away with his long-term tactic of preventing overtakes.

“It’s always been a grey area,” Hamilton said prior to the Mexico Grand Prix.

“That’s why he’s got away with it for so long.

“They probably need to make some adjustments, for sure. Also, you do have inconsistencies on rulings, weekend in, weekend out, obviously depending on which stewards are there.

Hamilton has called for a change to the overtaking rulesGetty

“As a sport, we do need to level up on all areas. You look at other global sports, they have full-time refs, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a bad thing for our sport.

“I experienced it many times with Max. You shouldn’t be able to just launch the car up the inside and be ahead and then go off, and still hold the position.”

Hamilton detailed how Verstappen pulled similar tricks during the enthralling 2021 season in which the Dutchman claimed his first world championship in the final race of the season.

“It’s interesting people are talking about it now because the same thing happened to me in 2021,” Hamilton said.

“If you take Brazil into account, for example, under braking you’re ahead but then the car just comes off the brakes and doesn’t make the corner and you have to go wide.

“Then they’ll say you both went wide but you had no choice because you had to avoid a collision.

“There definitely has to be something done about it because it’s happening a lot now. You shouldn’t be able to come off the brakes, run more speed in, go off track and still hold your place.”

Despite Hamilton’s call for change to the overtaking rules, Verstappen, perhaps unsurprisingly, does not believe any tweaks need to be made.

“At the end of the day, you cannot overtake outside of the white line,” Verstappen said.

“That’s a very clear rule and I’ve been done by it myself. I don’t understand why suddenly now we need to ask and scream for changes in the regulation when it’s been like that forever.

“I grew up go-karting, F3, F1, you know that you cannot pass outside of the white line. It’s as simple as that.

Verstappen has used the overtaking rules to his benefit on several occasionsGetty

“It’s how the rules are written. I didn’t make the rules, first of all, I just follow the rules as much as I can.

“Of course, sometimes you get caught out with it, we’ve had that in the past. I just implement the rules and play with them.”

Verstappen will look to stretch his 57-point lead over Norris in the championship standings at the Mexican GP, which begins at 8pm on Sunday.