Lando Norris has urged the FIA to rethink its track limits penalties after he was punished for going off while racing Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver was challenging Verstappen for the lead in the last 15 laps after Red Bull produced a slow final pit stop and lost four seconds.
A mistake from The Dutchman on his out-lap also enabled Norris to close him down, but the McLaren driver went off track while doing so on three occasions at Turns 1 and 3 which led to a black and white flag.
Norris made a move on Verstappen for the lead up the inside of Turn 3 but overshot the corner and ran wide into the run-off. He was later investigated and penalised for a fourth track limits infringement, earning him a five-second time penalty.
Lando Norris wants FIA rules rethink
When asked about whether it was a fair penalty in the British Grand Prix drivers’ press conference, Norris felt the FIA should rethink the rule in a racing context because he felt it did not make any sense.
“I got the five-second for trying to overtake and it not going correctly. I don’t even know why I had the five-second penalty, I don’t know why we served the five-second penalty before we retired the car, I didn’t even notice what we did until after the race,” said Norris.
“That’s just common sense. It’s pretty silly to be honest, I tried to do an overtake, I’ve locked up, I’ve gone off the track, just a matter then to avoid the sausage kerb, but immediately I gave the position back to Max.
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“I probably lost a second and a half doing that. It’s a clear enough penalty, but I’ve lost out in doing such a thing. It’s just silly, those types of things will avoid people racing. If you don’t want us to race and don’t want me to try to ever overtake and you want a boring race, then you can have these rules.
“There’s a difference between going off track and gaining and advantage, and it’s the ‘gaining an advantage’ part which is most important. Then there is the going off after making a silly mistake. The fact that you get punished for that, especially in a racing situation when you’ve given up more time, just doesn’t make sense.”
What does the rules say?
Norris was handed the penalty for “leaving the track without a justifiable reason multiple times” by the stewards, with their official ruling stating that it breaches Article 33.3 of the F1 Sporting Regulations relating to track limits.
This section states: “Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason.” It goes on to say drivers must re-join in a safe manner and without gaining a lasting advantage.
As Norris had handed the position back to Verstappen when he took to the escape road, it is clear that he did not gain an advantage by running wide. The penalty hinges on the fact that he went outside of the white lines, which is perhaps an oversight when it is done in a racing context.
Even though the Red Bull Ring is a hot spot for track limits infringements, Kevin Magnussen also fell foul of the same rule when he accumulated multiple penalties during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race.
The post ‘It’s pretty silly’: Lando Norris urges ‘common sense’ on penalties after Max Verstappen battle in Austria appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
