McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris called for Alpine racer Franco Colapinto to be given a one-race ban for triggering a crash that took him out of Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Argentine locked up under braking as the field raced toward the first corner after a safety car restart. Tyre smoking, he ploughed into teammate Pierre Gasly, who in turn collected Norris’ McLaren.
The collision sidelined both Gasly and Norris on the spot. It costs a lot of money, all my parts are in the bin now and people should get banned. Colapinto initially continued before pulling into the pits to retire.
He was given a 10-second time penalty but as he was already out that will now be converted into a five-place grid penalty at the next race in Malaysia on Oct. 4. The crash also cost Alpine crucial points, with Gasly and Colapinto both racing in the top 10 when the crash happened. Race winner George Russell had some sympathy for the 23-year-old, saying a ban would have been too harsh a step.
Second-placed Max Verstappen agreed: “Not nice for anyone involved, right? But like George said, I think, yeah, a race ban probably is a bit much.”
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