Lando Norris penalty in 2024 F1 Qatar GP: McLaren requests a review. Andrea Stella expects Lando Norris’s case and his penalty in Qatar “to be reviewed by the FIA.

The penalty imposed on Lando Norris at the Qatar GP has complicated McLaren’s fight for the Constructors’ Championship. The ten seconds dropped the Briton from second place to the back of the grid. Gradually, Norris climbed back up, finishing the race in P10 and securing an extra point for the fastest lap.

The gap between McLaren and Ferrari has now shrunk to just 21 points. The battle will be decided in Abu Dhabi.

Andrea Stella criticized the FIA, stating that the decision to hand Norris a severe 10-second stop-and-go penalty “lacked specificity and proportionality,” as he told *Motorsport* after the race.

For the McLaren team principal, the decision was “a bit too simplistic,” adding, “It seems as though somewhere there’s a dusty book with ‘Let’s see what’s in here; I’ll apply this’ written on the cover.”

Andrea Stella did acknowledge Lando’s mistake in not slowing down. However, he expressed concern about “the lack of specificity and proportionality. And it’s also a factor that could have a decisive impact on the championship fight. This is certainly something the FIA should take very seriously if we want fairness to be part of racing competition in Formula 1. It’s a significant business,” he continued.

“There’s enormous commitment from every team. Enormous commitment from all parties. We need to ensure the activity is managed in a way that guarantees a fundamental element of proportionality and specificity when a penalty is applied,” he stated. “Otherwise, the consequences could spiral out of control.”

Andrea Stella expects Lando Norris’s case and his penalty in Qatar “to be reviewed by the FIA” as, in their view, “there are certainly aspects to improve once the FIA takes this opportunity to initiate a review of its decisions and the application of penalties,” he explained.

Regarding the rest of the race, the Italian team principal preferred a “no comment,” stating that he would leave it to the Federation to make any decisions.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’ve made it clear that we expect this case to be examined. We don’t want to make any comments on changes to the race director. We don’t have the elements to judge, so we trust the institution in place to handle this type of work,” he concluded.