Lando Norris said rival Franco Colapinto 'shouldn't be in Formula 1' after the pair collided during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The reigning champion called for the FIA to suspend the Argentinian driver following the incident at the Baku street circuit.
Race drama and the collision
George Russell pipped Max Verstappen to victory at the Baku street circuit on Saturday, narrowing the gap to Mercedes teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli to 66 points. The race took a dramatic turn on lap 30 when Alex Albon crashed his Williams, bringing out the safety car.
At the restart, Norris was side-by-side with Pierre Gasly at turn 1 – only for Colapinto to run up the inside, lock up and smash into his Alpine teammate, who in turn collided with the McLaren. All three drivers were knocked out of the race immediately, with Gasly angrily berating Colapinto over the team radio.
Norris calls for suspensions
Norris took his criticism to another level, telling F1 TV: 'I think the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff.' The British driver, who was speaking before reviewing the crash footage, added: '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. Just some drivers that shouldn't be in Formula 1, to be honest. In Formula 1, you want to be against the best drivers in the world and when stuff like this happens, it's because… yeah, [they] shouldn't be there.'
Penalty and Colapinto's response
The FIA have confirmed that Colapinto has been slapped with a five-place grid penalty for the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being held in Malaysia due to the conflict in the Middle East. Race bans are incredibly rare in F1, with just two drivers picking up suspensions this century, the most recent being former Haas star Kevin Magnussen in 2024.
Colapinto was understandably distraught: 'Just sorry to the team, to Pierre. It was just a big, big mistake. So, really sorry to Pierre and everyone in the factory that has been working really hard. We lost a lot of… well, we were with both cars in the points. So, very sad and disappointed. It was a big mistake, cold brakes, cold tyres and I was completely out of control. Unfortunately, I took Pierre out, and Lando of course. But sorry to both.'
When asked about Norris' remarks, the 23-year-old replied: 'Well, sorry to Lando as well, to be honest, not only Pierre. Sorry to everyone, it's a big mistake, of course. I just locked up and then I was very out of control. I couldn't do a lot. As soon as I touched the brake, I locked up and lost a lot.'
The result leaves Norris fourth in the drivers' standings, 13 points behind Sir Lewis Hamilton with eight races left on the calendar.
