Lando Norris receives ‘unbelievably extreme’ penalty in dramatic Qatar Grand Prix
Lando Norris received a shock 10-second stop-and-go penalty which sent the McLaren driver from second to last place towards the end of a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris was penalised by the stewards for failing to slow down in double-waved yellow flag conditions on the main straight, while debris from a broken wing-mirror was strewn across the track.
Race leader Max Verstappen noticed that Norris did not slow down behind him, alerted his Red Bull team and the stewards eventually made their call.
Jenson Button, the 2009 F1 world champion, described the call as “unbelievably extreme” on commentary for Sky Sports F1. Norris was in a state of shock at being told of the penalty, saying over team radio: “For what?”
It meant Norris had to stop in the pits, costing him a net 35 seconds in the race, though he did battle back to finish tenth while Verstappen won the race.
Norris said after the race: “Honestly, I don’t know what I did wrong, apparently I didn’t slow under the yellow. I’m not an idiot, if I had seen it I’d have slowed down. The rule is if I had slowed down.
“Of course it’s an opportunity missed, it’s quite obvious. The team gave me a great car today, disappointed that I did a worse job today, I made the job of the team much harder than it needed to be.
“I let them down today.”
The late penalty meant Ferrari took the battle for the constructors’ title to the final race next week in Abu Dhabi, as Charles Leclerc finished in second place.
McLaren have not won the constructors’ title since 1998 but now have a 21-point lead heading into the final grand prix.
