Lando Norris called for a ban on Colapinto – now everything has suddenly changed

This incident caused quite a stir after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: the restart for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but Alpine driver Franco Colapinto misjudged his braking into Turn 1, he’s far too fast, desperately dives for the inside, then slides straight on with locked wheels, where – of all things – he hits his team-mate Pierre Gasly’s car, which in turn is nudged into Lando Norris’s car – game over for all three.

Afterwards, Lando Norris’s anger knew no bounds. The 2025 F1 World Champion was seething: “That sort of driving has no place in the premier class; Colapinto should be banned for a race.”

The stewards saw things differently: they handed the impetuous Argentine Colapinto a five-place grid penalty for the upcoming World Championship round in Bahrain (to be held in Malaysia), but they would hear of no suspension.

Perhaps Norris underestimated the avalanche he was setting off, because – not for the first time when it comes to Colapinto – fans, primarily from Argentina, lost their composure and showered the English champion Norris with abuse, scorn, ridicule, hatred and threats online.

It went so far that Alpine had to intervene and call for restraint online. Which, from experience, is unlikely to be of much use.

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Norris is now trying to smooth things over a little. He posted the following message on Instagram: “All in all, it was a tough weekend in Baku, and of course the premature end to the race was disappointing.”

“After the race, I sent Franco a message and apologised for my comments, which I simply shouldn’t have made. Emotions were running high, but that’s no excuse.”

“It was wrong of me. I’ve made mistakes myself over the years and know that this is an integral part of motor racing and of pushing the limits.”

“Franco and I have always got on well; we’re still good friends and we’re both looking forward to getting back into the thick of the action this weekend.”