Lando Norris called for the FIA to start issuing race bans for incidents like the one that ended his Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday, after Franco Colapinto’s restart crash collected both Norris and Colapinto’s Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly.
The incident occurred on Lap 36 in Baku when Colapinto locked up his cold tires entering Turn 1 following a safety car restart, spearing into Gasly before the Briton was caught in the wreckage. The safety car itself had been brought out five laps earlier after Alex Albon crashed into the barriers at Turn 5.
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Norris had not seen a replay of the incident when he spoke to reporters afterward but was direct in his assessment. “I think the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans,” the McLaren driver told the media. “It’s careless from people. It costs a lot of money; all my parts are in the bin now. People should just get banned, because that’s not driving that deserves to be in Formula 1.”
Colapinto accepted responsibility for the crash, which eliminated all three drivers on the spot. “I’m sorry to Lando as well,” the Argentine said. The stewards handed Colapinto a 10-second penalty, which will be converted into a grid penalty for next weekend’s race in Bahrain since he did not finish in Baku.
How the Rest of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Played Out
Norris had already made a Turn 1 mistake of his own earlier in the race before the retirement, capping a difficult weekend that started with him qualifying fifth, more than a second off pole-sitter George Russell’s pace. Russell went on to win the race by 0.196 seconds over Max Verstappen, while Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri continued to the finish but ended up 14th after mistakes of his own, a year removed from his own nightmare weekend at this same circuit.
The result adds to a rough stretch at Baku for championship contenders, a day after Kimi Antonelli’s own qualifying crash at Turn 1 left him starting from the back of the grid. Antonelli entered the weekend needing a strong points cushion over Russell to maintain his hold on the championship lead, and Saturday’s results leave that gap tighter than Red Bull and Mercedes would have liked heading into the season’s closing stretch.
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- Kimi Antonelli Assigns Blame After Azerbaijan GP Qualifying Crash: ‘I’m Sorry’
- F1 Qualifying Results: Full Starting Grid for Azerbaijan GP