Was Lando Norris robbed of the Madring victory? GP expert calls for a new solution

Following the uneventful Spanish Grand Prix, Italian driver Kimi Antonelli and world champion Max Verstappen both said: “Lando Norris was the fastest man on the Madring and should have won this race.”

Unfortunately, however, a virtual safety car phase came at the worst possible moment for the Englishman. Long-serving Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle (67) said in his post-race analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix for British broadcaster Sky: “Norris had raced clear at the front and looked very confident. But when Lance Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin whilst braking and came to a halt in one of the few, short run-off areas, it seemed all but certain that a virtual safety car would be deployed to recover the car.”

Martin Brundle

Foto: XPB

“Norris was rapidly approaching the pit lane entrance, but the team didn’t want to bring him in just because of the mere possibility of a safety car – given how difficult it is on the Madrid circuit to overtake even significantly slower cars.”

“Just as race control issued the VSC order, Norris had passed the pit lane entrance. But his lead was over four seconds – and the crucial factor now was that Mercedes had enough time to bring Antonelli into the pits.”

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“Then Norris had another stroke of bad luck. The lights turned green and the race resumed at full speed just as Lando was two corners from the pit lane entrance, and he subsequently had to drive the entire length of the pit lane whilst his main rivals were already back at full throttle. And to top it all off, McLaren gave him a seven-second pit stop instead of the usual two seconds.”

“Now the question arises: should a driver lose a race simply because another driver made a mistake or a technical fault occurred?”

“I believe that over the course of a season – or even an entire career – good luck and bad luck in races tend to balance each other out, but on the Sunday after the Madring Grand Prix, it felt more like a robbery.”

“In some racing series, the pit lane is temporarily closed in such situations – apart from emergency repairs or refuelling in emergencies, where permitted. However, things can quickly become chaotic and cramped in the pit lane, and here too, the conditions aren’t the same for everyone.”

“One solution would be to ensure that a VSC period lasts for at least one full lap for the entire field; this would ensure greater fairness. However, this naturally means losing time for racing action under the green flag and at full speed.”