From battling for victory to fighting for the Top 10: the Qatar GP quickly turned into a nightmare for Lando Norris, who incurred a “gratuitous” penalty during the final laps of the Losail race. After the grand prix, the English driver appeared visibly irritated in front of reporters’ microphones.
A ten-second “Stop & Go” is by no means a light penalty. The race direction, renewed after Niels Wittich‘s departure, hasn’t gained much favor: the handling of penalties, especially Norris’s, seemed to many a display of absolute inflexibility and severity, although some precedents justify the stewards’ actions.
Lando Norris’s frustration: “Penalty? I’m happy!”
“Lando, are you surprised or disappointed by this penalty?” asked Mara Sangiorgio promptly in the Losail post-race interview. The McLaren driver, born in ’99, responded rather sharply. “No, I’m happy!” Norris exclaimed with a sarcastic and irritated smile.
“Do you think the FIA’s decision was excessive?” the Sky Italia journalist pressed. “No, if I did what I did, if they say I was wrong, then the penalty is fair. Could this penalty weigh heavily in the championship? Of course… I should have finished the race in second place, but it didn’t happen because I made… a mistake. I don’t know what I did wrong, but if there was a yellow flag, then I should have slowed down,” the Brit tried to explain.
Lando Norris continued: “If I had seen the yellow flag, I would have lifted: I’m not stupid! I know how to drive the car. I don’t know if I missed it, ignored it, I don’t know! But if there’s a yellow flag, I know I need to slow down. If I didn’t, it’s because I didn’t see it or something else happened. It’s done now: all I can do is apologize to the team.”
Leave a Reply