Lando Norris has been labeled a hypocrite by Argentina's Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, following Norris's call for a race ban for Franco Colapinto after the multi-car crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The incident occurred during a safety car restart and involved several drivers, including Colapinto's Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly and Norris himself.
Norris, the current F1 world champion driving for McLaren, expressed his frustration after the incident. He believed the FIA needed to take a stricter stance against drivers causing such crashes. "The FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff," Norris said. "It's careless. It costs a lot of money. All my parts are in the bin now, so people should just get banned for this kind of driving. They don't deserve to be in Formula 1. If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban."
Colapinto took full responsibility and apologized for being "out of control" and making "a big mistake." However, Norris's anger seemed to trigger a reaction from other quarters. On Sunday, Argentina's Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, responded to Norris's remarks on X (formerly Twitter), accusing him of hypocrisy. Quirno pointed out that Norris was not penalized when he crashed into his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix last year. "Sure, Lando Norris called for a penalty for the driver who crashed into Oscar Piastri in Montreal 2025," Quirno wrote. "Ah, nog right."
Quirno's comment sparked an outpouring of support from Argentine fans, who flooded Norris's social media with harsh comments. Despite Norris's last post being on September 17, the controversy has clearly ignited nationalist sentiment in Argentina.
The incident in Baku began when Colapinto, driving for Alpine, lost control of his car during the safety car restart and collided with Gasly and Norris. As a result, both Gasly and Norris were forced to retire from the race. Colapinto received a grid penalty, but many felt the punishment was too lenient. Norris, who was in contention for points, was deeply disappointed.
Earlier, Alpine's Executive Director Flavio Briatore had issued an apology to Norris and McLaren for Colapinto's error. Briatore also revealed that the team was considering further action. "I want to take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken, so we can learn from it and avoid such a situation in future," Briatore said in Alpine's post-race press release. "I know that Franco has taken full responsibility for it, as he should; in fact he braked far too late considering the context of the race and the safety car restart. It was a very poor move for a driver of his experience."
The controversy was further fueled by Briatore's threat of a media blackout for Colapinto's fans in response to online abuse directed at Gasly. This shows that the Baku incident not only affected the race itself but also sparked tensions among fans and stakeholders.
As of now, there has been no official response from Norris or McLaren regarding Quirno's accusation. However, it is clear that Norris's statement has ignited a fierce debate about penalty standards in F1 and their consistency. This case also highlights how on-track incidents can quickly escalate into political and social issues, especially when drivers from specific countries are involved.
With the season still ongoing, this incident could set a precedent for how the FIA handles similar crashes in the future. Meanwhile, Colapinto must face additional pressure from fans and media, and prove that he deserves to keep his Alpine seat.
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