Reigning world champion Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto for demanding a race ban for the Alpine driver after the collision at Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Colapinto caused a pile-up at the lap 36 restart by locking up into Turn 1 of the slippery Baku street circuit, which eliminated himself, team-mate Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Norris.
Norris was left furious by the accident, feeling Colapinto’s careless driving should be punished harshly by F1’s race stewards.
“I’ve not seen it. I just got taken out. I think the FIA should be stricter and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” Norris vented.
“It’s careless from people. It costs a lot of money. 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.”
When asked if there were mitigating circumstances for what happened on the slippery Baku circuit, Norris added: “In Formula 1, I think you expect drivers to anticipate things.
“Grip is going to be low. Tyre temps are low, they weren’t even that low. In Formula 1, we want to be against the best drivers in the world, and when stuff like this happens, it’s because [they] shouldn’t be there.
Franco Colapinto, Alpine, Lando Norris, McLaren, Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT images via Getty Images
“I’ve not seen it, but if you cause a crash in a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban.”
With the benefit of two days to reflect on the incident, Norris has now rowed back those comments and says he has privately apologised to Colapinto, having sparked further online abuse that has overshadowed the Argentinian’s F1 career.
“Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race,” Norris posted on social media.
“After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said.
“I know better and emotions were running high but that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me. I’ve made mistakes of my own over the years and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.
“Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend.”
Colapinto took responsibility for his “big mistake”, which also angered Alpine chief Flavio Briatore as it cost the team a double points finish.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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