Lando Norris calls for race bans after crash: “That’s just reckless!”

Things just didn’t go Lando Norris’s (McLaren) way this race weekend! He made a mistake on his fast lap in qualifying, losing crucial tenths of a second as a result. He started from 5th on the grid. He then made a braking error during the Grand Prix as well. Then came the Madrid déjà vu: whilst the safety car was out, Kimi Antonelli overtook him with a quick tyre change.

Norris was knocked out of the race

But the scene that decided the race for him – in the very worst sense – was another: after the first safety car period, Norris was caught up in the pile-up that ended the race for him and the two Alpines when Franco Colapinto took out two cars (Norris and Pierre Gasly). The Racing Bulls driven by Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad were also caught up in the aftermath, but managed to get through. For Norris, the race was over after 36 of 51 laps – no points.

Norris calls for a race ban

After the crash, Norris was pretty gutted: “I haven’t seen the footage yet. But I was simply taken out of the race. I think the FIA should be stricter and impose bans for things like this. It’s just reckless. It costs a lot of money; all my parts are now scrap. You should simply be banned for driving like that.”

Did race leader George Russell trigger the chaos with his slightly delayed restart? Norris doesn’t blame Russell, but rather those who caused the crash (he was presumably referring to Colapinto, though he didn’t mention him by name). Norris: “George can do whatever he wants. In Formula 1, in my opinion, drivers are expected to anticipate things: grip will be low, tyre temperatures low – they weren’t even particularly low. In Formula 1, we want to compete against the best drivers in the world, and if something like this happens, then we have no business being there.”

Even without the crash, however, it probably wouldn’t have been a glorious race. Norris: “At the speed I was going, I didn’t stand a chance out there. I know I didn’t show it, that my driving wasn’t good enough, and it’s clear what I can improve next time, but at the same time, given the speed at which they were overtaking me, it was simply impossible. So it was a pretty impossible task out there.”

Topic of the week

Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring: track – hit or miss?

The people of Madrid had set their sights high for their city’s first Formula 1 World Championship race since 1981. But have the high expectations for the new Madring mixed-circuit track really been met?

Read More

TV Program

Live

Sepang: 1. Freies Training

FIA Formula One World Championship

02.10.2026 - 06:15

Even before the race, Norris had said that, with the World Championship in mind, his only real aim was to secure pole position. With his zero-points finish in Baku, Norris’s World Championship hopes are dwindling even further.