Lando Norris says he did not see any yellow flags after he was given a 10-second stop/go penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix, which saw his chances of beating Max Verstappen vanish.
Norris was chasing Verstappen in a tense lead battle when he speeded through double waved yellow flags for debris on the main straight.
The McLaren driver recovered to 10th place, plus the bonus point for fastest lap, following his harsh penalty.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’ve done wrong at the minute,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“Apparently I didn’t slow under the yellow. I’m not an idiot, if I knew there was a yellow, I would have slowed down. I don’t know if I’ve missed it or just been dumb, but the rule is, if you don’t slow down under the yellow that’s the penalty, so it’s a fair penalty.”
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Watch the moment Lando Norris got a 10-second stop-and-go penalty in the Qatar Grand Prix
Norris’ penalty and misfortune for Oscar Piastri with the timing of his pit stop, meant Charles Leclerc took second so Ferrari cut their deficit in the Constructors’ Championship to 21 points to McLaren.
McLaren are still favourites to win that title for the first time since 1998 but Norris says Sunday’s race was a “missed opportunity”.
“The team gave me a great car, so I’m thankful for the team,” he said.
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Watch the best bits from the Qatar Grand Prix
“Disappointed that I couldn’t have done a worse job than I did and not give them the points they deserved.
“So I’ve made the job of the team much harder than it needs to be. The team are doing a great job but I’ve let them down.”
Stella: We have lost any sense of proportionality with penalty
The penalty also results in Norris being only eight points ahead of Leclerc in the battle for runners-up in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ten-second stop/go penalties are rare in F1 and Andrea Stella was bewildered by the severity of the penalty.
“We checked the data. Effectively Lando stays flat out,” the McLaren team principal explained to Sky Sports F1.
“We have to say that the sector appeared yellow as soon as Lando had entered the sector, but the requirement is very clear, you need to lift and it’s the responsibility of the driver to recognise that you are in a yellow sector and you need to back off.”
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Battles all down the field on the second safety car restart as Max Verstappen continued to hold off Lando Norris for the lead of the Qatar GP
He added: “And then in the application of the penalty, I think we have lost any sense of proportion, and any sense of specificity.
“Can we look specifically at the infringement, at the level of danger associated to the situation and the fact the yellow flag was removed?
“And then judge, using this kind of elements – proportion and specificity – rather than taking a look at any kind of rulebook, probably full of dust on top of it, and then apply it without any sense of critical approach.
“So from this point of view, I think there’s an opportunity to do better from the FIA.”
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Oscar Piastri felt it was ‘important’ to walk away with a podium and expects the Constructors’ Championship will go down to the wire
The wing mirror from Williams’ Alex Albon which caused the double waved yellow flags did not cause a Safety Car until Valtteri Bottas ran over it, then Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz suffered punctures.
The debris was on track for seven laps until a Safety Car was finally called.
“At the same time, I think it’s quite peculiar that the yellow flag was deployed and then was removed but actually the situation in that sector was the same – there was debris on track,” said Stella.
“At some time it deserved a yellow flag, and then a few seconds after, it didn’t, which is just unfortunate, I would say.”
Watch the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season – the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – live this coming week on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 1pm. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream with NOW