Andreas Stella accuses FIA of exploiting Lando Norris’ penalty to establish precedent in Formula 1

McLaren team principal Andreas Stella claims that Lando Norris’ penalty at the Canadian GP was used to set a precedent in F1.

Andreas Stella accuses FIA of exploiting Lando Norris’ penalty to establish precedent in Formula 1

McLaren team principal Andreas Stella (Image credit: PlanetF1)

At the Canadian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris was charged with an obscure penalty for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct.’ This cost the Brit a few valuable points for his team, as his five-second penalty dropped him to P13. Team principal Andreas Stella believes the FIA charged them with the penalty to ‘set a precedent.’

After the race, Andreas Stella suggested the stewards might aim to establish new references, indicating ongoing discussions with the FIA. Stella emphasized that they ultimately placed trust in the judgment of the stewards. He mentioned that they were evaluating Norris’ behavior since they were quite surprised that it resulted in a penalty.

YouTube video

“There’s a possibility that the stewards want to set new references. We trust their judgement. Still, we are reviewing the behaviour of Lando because we come out of this race very surprised that this has caused a penalty. We understand that they may want to set a precedent so that there’s kind of a new way of interpreting the way you have to drive under the safety car,” Andreas Stella said.

FS Video

Also read: “Toughest start to a Formula 1 year I’ve ever had,” Lando Norris discloses the hardships of driving his McLaren at the back of the grid

Lando Norris fights back at the “Unsportsmanlike” penalty

McLaren driver Lando Norris (Image credit: PlanetF1)

After George Russell’s crash brought out the safety car, many teams rushed to get a cheap pitstop. McLaren wasn’t any different. During this time, Norris was accused of deliberately slowing down the pack to allow his teammate, Oscar Piastri, extra time to exit the pits without delay. The Brit claimed to have been driving normally and was unaware he was pitting until later.

In a chat with SkyF1, Norris candidly spoke about his discontent with the said penalty. He expressed his confusion, stating that he could not do anything about the situation. He explained that he had slowed down to warm up the tires and, once instructed to pit, he immediately accelerated and tried to go as fast as possible.

“Nothing I can do. I slowed down to warm the tyres a bit and as soon as they told me to box, I pushed and tried going as fast as I can,” the McLaren driver said. He added that he is disappointed with the response from FIA over his on-track action, which he believes wasn’t illegal.

In case you missed it: