McLaren principal Andrea Stella perplexed by Lando Norris penalty and lack of proportion
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McLaren principal Andrea Stella, seen here at the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, called the "lack of any specificity and proportion" for Lando Norris' penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix "very concerning".
PHOTO: AFP
DOHA – McLaren principal Andrea Stella called for a sense of proportion after Lando Norris collected one of the harshest penalties in the rule book for ignoring yellow flags at the Qatar Grand Prix on Dec 1.
The Briton’s 10-second stop-and-go penalty, for failing to slow when the flags were waved in response to debris on the track, cost crucial points in the team’s constructors’ championship battle with Ferrari.
The penalty, effectively costing over 30 seconds, dropped Norris from second down to the rear of the field, before he fought back to 10th with the fastest lap. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the race for a second year running, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc second and Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri third.
Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion and a former McLaren driver, told Sky Sports television viewers that the penalty seemed “unbelievably extreme”.
Stella said the data confirmed Norris had not slowed, effectively staying flat out, but the yellow flags were inconsistent – deployed and then removed despite the track situation staying the same.
“The lack of any specificity and proportion is very concerning,” he said. “And it’s also a factor that could have a decisive impact on the championship quest.
“It’s definitely material that the FIA (International Automobile Federation) should consider very seriously if we want fairness to be part of going racing in Formula One.”
Stella said he trusted the FIA’s decision-making but expected the body to review its operations and application of the penalty, even if it was too late to do anything about the outcome of the race.
“There is certainly, in our opinion, material for improvement,” he added, without commenting on a recent change of race director.
McLaren, who last won the constructors’ title in 1998, are 21 points clear of Ferrari, with 44 still to be won in Abu Dhabi on Dec 8.
Both their drivers had lined up ahead of the Ferrari pair Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the start.
Stella suggested the situation looked like someone taking out a book covered in dust and opening it up to see what it said and then applying it.
Norris blamed himself and apologised for what he saw as a costly mistake.
He said: “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 said he should not be so hard on himself.
“What I can say is that we are in a position of going into the final race leading the championship because our two drivers have done an amazing job,” he added. “And Lando has been the main contributor to put McLaren in this condition.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen said he had “lost all respect” for Mercedes rival George Russell after being stripped of pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Despite winning the race, the Dutchman was still fired up by what had gone on when they were in the stewards’ room a day earlier.
“I couldn’t believe that I got it. But in a way, I was also like, yeah, I’m not surprised any more in the world that I live in,” he said of the rarely applied one-place grid drop for driving unnecessarily slowly in the final phase of qualifying and impeding Russell.
He added that he had been trying to be nice and not wanting to mess up anyone else’s lap with his championship already won on Nov 23.
Verstappen said: “I didn’t want to screw anyone over to prepare their lap. And by doing that, you know, being nice, basically you get a penalty. And that’s what I tried to explain as well.
“But I just felt like I was talking to a brick wall... I was quite surprised when sitting there in the stewards’ room, what was all going on.
“I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, in my career, with people that have raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. And that for me... I lost all respect.”
He also told Viaplay television that Russell “always does it very nicely here in front of the camera, but then when you’re inside with him in person, it’s just a different person”. REUTERS