Lando Norris F1 News: McLaren star handed FIA PUNISHMENT following chaotic Brazilian GP

McLaren

Norris handed FIA PUNISHMENT following chaotic Brazilian GP

Lando Norris has been punished by the FIA once again

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 4 November 2024 18:58

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McLaren Formula 1 star Lando Norris has been handed a punishment by the FIA in the aftermath of the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, following a bizarre incident.

Norris lost ground in his drivers' championship battle with Max Verstappen during the main race, with the Dutchman brilliantly carving his way through the field to take a stunning victory, while Norris could only finish sixth.

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The disappointing result came despite Norris having a seamless weekend up until that point, winning the sprint race on Saturday before avoiding all the chaos on Sunday to take pole position in the wet, with his rival only qualifying down in 12th, with a five-place grid penalty added on top of that.

The overall result of the weekend, however, sees Verstappen leave Interlagos 15 points better off than he was after Mexico, extending his advantage at the top of the standings to 62 points with just three races remaining in the season.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have been in a fierce championship battle

Lando Norris only managed a P6 finish in Brazil

Norris hit with FIA punishment

McLaren and Norris' attention will likely now switch to trying to cement their first constructors' championship title since 1998, currently holding a 36-point lead over nearest challengers Ferrari.

Norris had looked to be in a good position in the first third of the main race in Brazil, losing out at the start to Mercedes' George Russell, but sitting comfortably in second waiting to launch an attack for the lead.

However, having pitted under virtual safety car conditions, both British stars were caught out when the race was red flagged on lap 32, with both Alpine drivers and Verstappen effectively gaining a free pit stop, putting them in pole position to battle it out for the race victory.

In the end, Verstappen won by over 19 seconds, with Norris left ruing what might have been down in sixth.

Max Verstappen claimed another career victory in Brazil

Following the race, Norris was hit with a reprimand from the FIA, following a bizarre incident that occurred at the start of Sunday's grand prix.

Lance Stroll's crash during the formation lap in Interlagos caused an aborted start, with chaos ensuing as drivers scrambled to figure out what was going on.

Norris led the cars away on a second formation lap, despite the FIA announcing that the start procedure would be put back 10 minutes, allowing teams to come back onto the grid and prepare for the new start time.

The bizarre circumstances were taken into account, as the FIA announced in a statement that Norris would be fined €5000 for his actions.

"Although the signal was appropriately given the light panel illuminated as prescribed, and the teams notified by the messaging system, the driver left the grid and proceeded on a lap that he assumed to be an extra formation lap," the FIA confirmed in an official statement.

"As the driver was on the front row of the grid this triggered following drivers to take similar action. At some point the race director realising that for practical reasons all cars would now need to do an extra formation lap gave an instruction to the teams for all cars to proceed and return to the grid to follow the correct aborted start procedure.

"In the opinion of the stewards, the driver [Norris] precipitated the action of the drivers on the grid directly behind him."

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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Max Verstappen Mercedes McLaren FIA Lando Norris Brazilian Grand Prix