F1 News: Lando Norris Handed Penalty Over Aborted Start Chaos At Brazil

At the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix held at Interlagos, Brazil, McLaren’s Lando Norris faced repercussions for his role in an aborted start after Lance Stroll beached his Aston Martin during the formation lap.

The Canadian driver crashed at Turn 4, leading to all-out chaos. However, due to not quite understanding what was happening when the race start was aborted, Norris received a reprimand and a fine of €5,000. Fortunately for him, this did not affect his or McLaren’s standing in the championship.

The crash prompted the FIA Formula One Race Director to initiate the Aborted Start procedure.

“The FIA Formula One Race Director initiated the Aborted Start procedure indicating that the drivers should not leave the grid,” a statement from the FIA read. “This message was necessary as there was a car off track in Turn 4 (STR) that needed to be recovered.”

Despite proper signals, Norris seemed to get confused, opting to start a second formation lap. This decision set off a chain reaction, with subsequent drivers following suit, believing the lap to be an extra formation lap.

“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 realizing 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.”

This sequential misunderstanding led to Norris being cited as the initiator of the mistake, with the stewards concluding, “In the opinion of the stewards the driver NOR precipitated the action of the drivers on the grid directly behind him.”

The breach Norris committed relates to Article 47.1 of F1’s sporting regulations, a rule managing the start of races, including aborted starts. Ignoring such protocols demonstrated noncompliance with guidelines, meaning that some form of penalty was necessary.

Both Norris and Mercedes’s George Russell were penalized. Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, who were also pulled into the investigation, were ultimately found not culpable.

Since his debut with McLaren in 2019, Norris has demonstrated significant growth, evidenced by multiple Grand Prix wins and pole positions this season. Unfortunately for the Papaya team, this was not their day, with Norris finishing P6 and teammate Oscar Piastri P8.

Interlagos is known for its challenging layout and erratic weather, which only heightened the race’s unpredictability. Despite this, Max Verstappen delivered a remarkable performance by winning the race despite starting from 17th on the grid.

McLaren will be wanting a better weekend when they reach Las Vegas in a few weeks’ time.