Lando Norris believes his three-place grid drop for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as well as three penalty points on his super licence, is an “unfair” punishment.
Norris was driving along the start-finish straight during Q1 when a red flag was deployed following a crash for Antonio Giovinazzi at Turn 15.
Norris drove alongside the pit entry line, asking if he should stay out or peel into the pits, before opting to complete another lap of the circuit.
The Stewards acknowledged that Norris had little time to react to the situation, but nevertheless handed him a penalty, which places him ninth on Sunday’s starting grid.
Norris was left frustrated by the outcome and suggested that stewards need to be more open-minded.
“For certain situations they should think about what it is like to be in the driver’s seat for a second, what you have to react to, and the speed you are doing, and the time you have to react to things and so on,” Norris said.
“I think a reprimand is the right thing to do. I did not put anyone in harm’s way. If anything, I took the safer option out of boxing or not boxing.
“I do not deserve three points on my license, because I did not do anything dangerous. I did not do anything like because I did not know, or I was clueless or anything. It was nothing to do with that.
“I know what the rules are and so on. It is not like I have a lack of understanding or anything like that. It should not ruin my race for having to make this kind of decision.
“It should not ruin my Sunday for such a thing. In my opinion it is a bad decision or just an unfair penalty. An unfair ruling.
“I feel like what I did was exactly the safest thing to do. For all I know the pit lane could’ve been blocked, and then you’re not allowed to enter the pit lane and it could have been a different story.
“I did not have time to talk to my engineer and say should I box or should I not. I did everything I thought I should’ve done.
“It sucks because in the end there is a rule, but sometimes there is more leniency to certain situations when a driver has still done the best thing that is possible to do in that situation.”
Discussion about this post