Lando Norris has called on the FIA to introduce race bans for serious restart incidents after Franco Colapinto triggered the Azerbaijan Grand Prix collision that eliminated the McLaren driver and Pierre Gasly. Norris had not even watched the incident back when he delivered his verdict, arguing that driving of this kind requires much tougher punishment.
It completed a disastrous Baku race for McLaren, which left Azerbaijan without a single point despite bringing a significant MCL40 upgrade package. Oscar Piastri paid for another mistake when he ran deep at Turn 1 and dropped from third to 14th, while Norris had already lost several positions because his car never had the pace to defend before becoming involved in Colapinto’s restart accident.
Lando Norris calls for race ban after Colapinto Baku crash
Speaking immediately after the race, the reigning Formula 1 world champion said he did not need to review the footage before calling for a severe sanction.
“I haven’t seen the incident yet, but if you cause a crash during a restart like that, you should get at least a one-race ban!” Norris said.
Usually measured in his post-race assessments, Norris was unequivocal about the consequences of the collision.
“I was simply taken out. I think the FIA should be stricter and start handing out bans for this kind of incident. There was careless behaviour that costs us a lot of money: there are so many parts of my car that now have to be thrown away. People should be banned, because that isn’t driving that deserves to be in Formula 1.”
Norris defends George Russell’s restart tactics
George Russell controlled the restart from the front with Max Verstappen behind him, allowing the field to compress significantly before racing resumed. Norris, however, made clear that he did not blame the Mercedes driver for creating the situation.
“George at the front can do whatever he wants. In Formula 1, I think you expect drivers to be able to anticipate situations: you know the grip will be low, you know the tyre temperatures will be low, even though they weren’t actually that low.”
“In Formula 1 we want to race against the best drivers in the world, and when things like this happen, it’s because there are people who shouldn’t be there!”
McLaren lacked the speed to defend in Baku
Even before the crash, Norris had endured a difficult Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He made a strong start but could not hold fourth position as quicker cars attacked him.
“I had absolutely no chance of fighting with the speed I had. I’m sure there were also aspects of my driving that weren’t optimal; I need to understand what I can improve for next week.”
“But at the same time, it’s fair to say that the speed with which they overtook me… it was incredible.”
Asked whether the performance difference he had experienced compared with Oscar Piastri was still present, Norris replied simply: “I don’t know.”
Norris points to McLaren battery behaviour and F1 overtaking problem
Norris believes McLaren’s race difficulties were closely linked to the way electrical power was being deployed, leaving him unable to attack effectively even when he was close enough to another car to consider an overtake.
“I’m afraid it simply comes down to how the battery works. With the way the battery delivers the power, it was impossible to try to overtake.”
“We’re trying to solve the wrong problems: we need to fix the engine and then maybe we’ll see some overtaking.”
The complaint adds to wider criticism of the energy-management characteristics of the 2026 Formula 1 cars, which can create large differences in acceleration depending on how much electrical energy a driver has available at a particular point on the circuit.
Norris had already identified straight-line performance as one of McLaren’s main weaknesses during the Baku weekend, and the problem ultimately left him unable to defend positions despite starting strongly.
Norris unsure whether McLaren solved its car problem
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella had previously spoken about a specific issue on Norris’ car that the team was attempting to resolve ahead of the race.
Asked after the Grand Prix whether McLaren had managed to solve that problem, Norris again gave a brief response: “I don’t know.”
The result leaves McLaren with no points from a weekend in which the team had hoped its substantial upgrade package would help close the gap to its main rivals. Instead, Piastri finished outside the points and Norris retired after being collected in the restart collision, leaving the reigning champion frustrated both by the crash and by the underlying performance of the MCL40.
With the championship continuing immediately into the next race, Norris now has little time to dwell on Baku. But his position on the incident itself could hardly be clearer: in his view, the FIA needs to use race bans when careless mistakes at restarts produce consequences of this magnitude.
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