Lando Norris says he didn’t see the yellow flag after receiving a 10-second Stop/Go penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix. This ended his chances of beating Max Verstappen.
Norris was chasing Verstappen in a tense battle for the lead, as he sped through twice-waved yellow flags to find wreckage on the main straight.
The McLaren driver recovered to finish 10th after receiving a harsh penalty and also received bonus points for fastest lap.
“Honestly, now I don’t know what I did wrong,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“Obviously I didn’t slow down under the yellow. I’m not stupid. If I’d known there was a yellow, I would have slowed down. I don’t know if I missed it or I’m just stupid, but the rule is if you don’t slow down under the yellow, “It’s a penalty, so it’s a fair penalty.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch the moment Lando Norris receives a 10-second stop-and-go penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris’ penalty and misfortune on Oscar Piastri, along with his pit stop timing, saw Charles Leclerc finish second, reducing Ferrari’s deficit in the Constructors’ Championship to 21 points over McLaren.
McLaren remain the favorites to win that title for the first time since 1998, but Norris said Sunday’s race was a “missed opportunity”.
“I am grateful to the team because they gave me a good car,” he said.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch the best moments from the Qatar Grand Prix
“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t have done worse than I did and given them the points they deserved.
“So I made Tim’s job much more difficult than it needed to be. The team is doing a great job, but I let them down.”
Stella: We lost our sense of proportion with the penalty.
The penalty also left Norris just eight points ahead of Leclerc in the race for second place in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ten-second stop/go penalties are rare in F1 and Andrea Stella was baffled by the severity of the penalty.
“We have seen the data. Effectively, Lando remains flat,” the McLaren team principal explained to Sky Sports F1.
“As soon as a lando enters that zone, it has to be said that the zone is yellow, but the requirements are very clear: You have to lift and it is the driver’s responsibility to recognize they are in a yellow zone. Stay back.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The second safety car restart resulted in a battle across the field as Max Verstappen continued to hold off Lando Norris for the lead in the Qatar GP.
He added, “It seems that a sense of proportion and specificity has been lost in the application of penalties.”
“Can you look specifically at the circumstances of the breach, the level of risk associated with the circumstances, and the fact that the yellow flag has been removed?
“And rather than looking at a rulebook that might be gathering dust on top of it, use these factors like proportions and specificity to make judgments and apply them without any critical approach.
“So from that perspective, I think there is an opportunity to do better in the FIA.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Oscar Piastri felt it was ‘important’ to walk away with a podium and predicted the Constructors’ Championship would be scrapped.
Alex Albon’s wing mirror in his Williams, which caused two yellow flags to wave, did not trigger the safety car until Valtteri Bottas ran over it, and Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz suffered punctures.
The wreck remained on the track for seven laps until the safety car was finally called.
“I think it’s very strange that the yellow flags were placed and then removed at the same time, but in reality the situation in that area was the same – there was debris on the tracks,” Stella said.
“One day it deserved a yellow flag, but a few seconds later it didn’t. That’s unfortunate.”
Watch the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season, live on Sky Sports F1 this Sunday at 1pm. Buy Sky Sports F1 or stream now
