Lando Norris claims drivers are deliberately breaking overtaking rules due to weak penalties

The current overtaking rule allows a car to rejoin after leaving the track.

Lando Norris claims drivers are deliberately breaking overtaking rules due to weak penalties

Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

The McLaren driver Lando Norris slammed the FIA over weak penalties that push drivers to make illegal passes during the races. Norris claims the lack of harsh penalties from the stewards is the reason why drivers don’t like to stay behind the slow cars and pass them off-track. This gives the driver the position and the chance to pull away from them and maintain a five-second gap.

This statement from the Briton comes after his teammate Oscar Piastri was passed off the track by the Mercedes driver George Russell. Russell later took the penalty hit but was clear of Piastri and managed to finish under points at the US GP Sprint Race. However, it seemed the message of the McLaren driver couldn’t be conveyed to the federation.

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After the Austin Sprint Race, Norris expressed his frustration, saying it’s a bit silly to keep discussing this in driver meetings. He believes overtaking off-track is intentional, not a mistake. This is what he said:

We discussed this exact thing. And we discussed that you can easily do it. If you're quicker you could get past someone, and you're easily going to pull away in five seconds. I think there's a bit of a lack of consistency once again. There was quite a clear guideline of what they were going to do when such a thing happened.

He added that the FIA sometimes comes in and asks the driver to give the place back, but they don’t even do that now. Norris called out this lack of consistency. But the McLaren driver finally suggested a solution to this problem. That is, demanding drivers give back any position gained illegally, or the FIA ramps up the time penalty.

The current FIA rules regarding overtaking off-track

The current FIA ‘Driving Standard Guidelines’ states rules regarding the overtaking of a car, both on and off track. The rule says that if a car leaves the track for any reason, the driver is allowed to rejoin. However, this can only be done when it’s safe to do so without gaining any lasting advantage. 

FIA logo
FIA logo. (via Twitter / FIA)

The FIA has clarified what constitutes a ‘lasting advantage.’ If a driver, for instance, takes a shortcut through a chicane or a corner and gains an advantage, it’s their responsibility to give back that advantage. Failure to do so may result in time penalties or being asked to return the position.

Despite these rules, the FIA sometimes doesn’t enforce them, leading to complaints from teams and drivers. The FIA needs to ensure that the stewarding in Grand Prix races is consistent and fair.

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