Lando Norris has been reprimanded, but not penalised, by Formula One stewards after being found guilty of driving "erratically" during the Bahrain Grand Prix of Malaysia at Sepang. The McLaren driver was investigated for a late incident in which he went off track while taking avoiding action to prevent slamming into the back of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Stewards' decision
The near-miss occurred behind the safety car, prompting the stewards to summon Norris to a hearing after the race. After considering the facts, they decided there were enough mitigating factors to avoid penalising the Brit, who finished ninth. Instead, Norris received a reprimand.
The stewards explained that Norris had told them the low sun and resulting visibility difficulties were why he was slow to react to cars ahead slowing earlier than usual into turn one. The cars had slowed because George Russell had suddenly pulled over with an engine problem on his Mercedes.
Incident details
Norris braked hard and swerved left to avoid hitting Piastri, going very wide into turn one and off track into the gravel. The stewards noted he briefly went ahead of the other McLaren, which they investigated as a potential overtake behind the safety car, but concluded "this did not constitute an overtaking maneoeuvre".
However, the stewards felt Norris should have done more to avoid the incident. "Such a situation should not arise while driving behind the safety car," they said, adding that "the need for heavy braking and an avoiding manoeuvre into the gravel demonstrated that Norris had not maintained an appropriate margin [to the car ahead] in the circumstances."
Norris's response
Speaking before the verdict, Norris admitted he should have done more to prevent the near-miss. He said: "I just couldn't see from my angle how much they literally just stopped on the racing line."
He added: "At the end of the day, it's my job to judge that kind of thing, but that was very much not a normal situation. I don't really have anyone else to blame but myself, but I also don't think I could do much else in that situation."
Regarding McLaren's performance issues, Norris said: "The team are trying, but I'm losing two tenths per lap and two tenths per lap over 55 laps is just painful as hell. It's making my life pretty damn difficult. But there are also other things, like today I could have done better, so I can't just have that as an excuse. There are lots of things I can do better, and the team as well."
