Lando Norris has expressed no objections to his severe stop-and-go penalty during the Qatar Grand Prix. The McLaren driver believes the punishment was fair in retrospect. Norris also fully understands why Max Verstappen immediately reported his violation during the double yellow flags via the onboard radio. “I would have done the same,” admits the British driver.
Lando Norris was on track to secure second place for a long time, when he was informed in the final phase of the race in Qatar that he had to serve a stop-and-go penalty. The Brit subsequently fell back to fifteenth place in the field, barely managing to score two points for McLaren. Norris received the severe penalty for ignoring the yellow flags.
The McLaren driver himself stated immediately after the race that he had not seen the yellow flags. “I’m not an idiot. If I knew there was yellow, I would have slowed down,” the McLaren driver told Sky Sports. Max Verstappen was driving ahead of Norris when the Brit forgot to slow down, and immediately reported it to his team via the onboard radio.
Norris doesn’t blame Max Verstappen at all for immediately reporting the incident. “That’s what everyone does,” the Brit tells the media present. “I would have done the same. I’m happy for him (that Verstappen won).”
Straightforward Penalty
Team boss Andrea Stella complained after the Grand Prix that Norris’ penalty was ‘disproportionate’, but the Brit himself seems to be at peace with his penalty. “It’s fair,” Norris explains. “If I indeed did what (the stewards) said, then it’s good that they gave me the appropriate penalty.”
The stewards themselves explained in a statement on the Monday after the race that Norris’ penalty “is in accordance with the regulations of February 19, 2024. An offense during a double yellow flag is seen as a serious assault on safety, and is therefore punished so heavily.”
