Lando Norris calls for FIA bans after Azerbaijan GP crash: 'Not driving that deserves to be in F1'

McLaren star Lando Norris has called for the FIA to start handing out race bans after being wiped out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The weekend in Baku has been miserable for the reigning world champion - in qualifying on Friday he was suffering a fuel injection issue and then made a mistake on his final lap in Q3, only qualifying in P5.

Then, in the race itself, he struggled for pace, sitting seventh before a costly lockup into turn one saw him lose even more places.

The worst for the McLaren star was yet to come though, with Norris having been taken out at the safety car restart on lap 36 when Franco Colapinto completely misjudged his speed and braking heading into turn one, smashing into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who consequently slammed into the McLaren.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton in turmoil as F1 star hit with double FIA punishment

Lando Norris calls for FIA race bans in Baku

All three drivers were forced to retire from the race after the incident, and speaking to the media post-race in Baku, Norris did not hold back on what went down, despite not yet having seen the replays back.

“I think the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff," the reigning F1 world champion told the media, via The Race. "It's just careless from people.

"It costs a lot of money," Norris continued. "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.”

Damaging day for McLaren

All in all, it was a pretty rough day for McLaren in Baku, with Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri also making a huge mistake and locking up into turn one, meaning he eventually came home in P14 having been well in contention for a podium.

Combined with Norris' DNF, that meant a grand total of zero points scored for the papaya squad in Azerbaijan.

Red Bull, on the other hand, locked up P2 and P3 with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, scoring a combined 33 points and taking a big chunk out of the advantage McLaren previously held over them in the constructors' championship.

McLaren remain third heading to the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, but Red Bull end the day just 43 points behind them having started it 76 adrift.

READ MORE: Verstappen F1 nightmare as Red Bull boss reveals 'huge problem'

READ MORE: F1 champion blames the WALL after shock Antonelli crash at the Azerbaijan GP

Written by

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - F1 Editor

View full biography