Lando Norris has called for Franco Colapinto to receive a Formula 1 race ban following his error during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that eliminated Norris, Colapinto, and Pierre Gasly from the race. Norris, who had a difficult weekend leading up to the event, expressed his frustration over what he deemed a careless mistake that caused significant damage.
The incident occurred after more than 30 laps of a relatively processional race at the Baku City Circuit. Colapinto, running in 10th place, suffered a massive lock-up entering Turn 1 on a safety car restart. He was seemingly caught out by the rate of deceleration from the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli ahead. Colapinto avoided hitting Antonelli but had to hug the inside wall and never scrubbed off enough speed, ploughing into his Alpine teammate Gasly in the braking zone. The chain reaction also eliminated Norris.
Norris, who had not seen the replay at the time of speaking, stressed that the FIA should be more strict. "I think the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff. It's just careless from people. It costs a lot of money, all my parts are in the bin now. People should just get banned, because that's not driving that deserves to be in Formula 1," he said. He later reiterated that he wanted "at least a one-race ban" for this kind of crash.
When asked whether race leader George Russell's approach to the restart bunched up the field too much, Norris dismissed the notion that it was a factor. "George can do what he wants. In Formula 1 I think you expect drivers to anticipate things, know grip is going to be low, know tyre temps are low - they weren't even that low. In Formula 1 you want to be against the best drivers in the world, and when stuff like this happens, it's because...yeah, [it] shouldn't be there," he explained.
In F1, a race ban requires a driver to accumulate 12 penalty points within a 12-month period. However, the FIA has revised its approach to penalty points, seeking only to penalise actively dangerous driving or unsportsmanlike conduct. Colapinto is currently joint-top with Carlos Sainz in the penalty points leaderboard, but with only four points, there is no precedent under the current system by which he would be banned for the next round. A 10-second penalty was assessed against Colapinto as the Baku race concluded, but as he did not reach the finish, it will be converted to a grid drop.
Colapinto was immediately apologetic on the radio and maintained that tone in his media appearance. "I was out of control completely. Not a lot more to say than sorry to the team, to Pierre, of course, to all the factory. I'm sorry to Lando also. I'm sorry to everyone. It was a big mistake, of course," he said. He didn't respond specifically to Norris's suggestion of a race ban but acknowledged that he expects a penalty. "I do expect to get something [in terms of a penalty], of course. I don't know, I'm not a steward," he added.
This incident adds to the growing list of safety controversies in Formula 1 this season. With competition intensifying, even the smallest mistake can have massive consequences, not only on race results but also on driver safety. Norris's call reflects the frustration that many might feel, but it also questions the effectiveness of the current penalty system. Will the FIA review the penalty points rule? Only time will tell.
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