Lando Norris slams 'silly' FIA rules after penalty warning

Lando Norris has slammed the 'silliest' rule in F1, following a close shave with a penalty during the US Grand Prix.

Norris received a black-and-white flag on lap 26 of the main race on Sunday, after he exceeded track limits on three occasions.

It meant that he had to manage the final 30 laps of the race without committing another track limits offence, otherwise he would have faced a five-second time penalty from the FIA race stewards.

Eventually, Norris managed to nurse his McLaren home in second, and kept his car on the track so that he didn't receive that fourth track limits infringement, but he has now admitted how tough that was.

Norris was unable to challenge Max Verstappen for victory in Austin, but added that if he had the opportunity to battle Verstappen out front, he likely would have had to drive very conservatively.

"I mean, the places which were easy to go off were turn nine over the crest of the hill, and then the last two corners," Norris told media after the race.

"I think I was on three strikes by like lap 10. So I didn't put myself in the best position. But then one of my strikes was because I was racing.

"You know, I think that's one of the silliest rules that we have - we’re invited to try and race, but if you race too much, you get a penalty for it. And I got a track limits for trying to go around the outside and losing time to Charles.

"So, doesn't really make much sense in terms of going racing. But it definitely made my life that little bit trickier, especially turn 19, with the wind, like Max said, it was pretty inconsistent.

"It’s difficult to just be always on the limit and not make mistakes - which I obviously made a couple too many of, too early on. But yeah, a little bit more cautious at the end because I knew I couldn’t afford a penalty. But I took the risks I needed to."

Norris edges closer to Piastri

Norris' second-place coupled with team-mate Oscar Piastri's inability to claim a top-four finish means that Norris has now closed the gap to championship leader Piastri to 14 points.

There are five rounds remaining, and we are all set for a thrilling championship battle conclusion between the pair.

However, the United States GP weekend may have sparked some fear in both McLaren drivers, with Max Verstappen gaining the full 33 points across the weekend, winning the sprint race and the main race.

It means that the four-time world champion is now only 26 points behind Norris, and 40 points behind Piastri, demonstrating imperious form that was last seen in the 2023 season.

Verstappen has now won three of the last five grands prix, and finished second in the other two. Crucially, the Dutchman finished ahead of Norris in all of those races, and was only beaten by Piastri on one occasion.

McLaren will be nervous as they chase their first drivers' world title since their 2008 victory with Lewis Hamilton.

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