Lando Norris reveals the reason for not getting penalized for jump start at Saudi Arabian GP

Lando Norris narrowly avoided a penalty for potentially jumping the start at the Saudi Arabian GP.

Lando Norris reveals the reason for not getting penalized for jump start at Saudi Arabian GP

Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris had a rollercoaster of a race during the Saudi Arabian GP. The Briton initially almost crashed with Yuki Tsunoda‘s challenger in the pit lane before the race even started. However, the accident was avoided, and the 24-year-old lined up on the grid. However, as the five lights went out, Norris jumped the start.

The Briton was immediately under investigation by the stewards following the incident and even George Russell called out the mistake on his team radio. Hence, following the investigation, the driver was not penalized for the jump start. Will Buxton also shared his discontent with the decision and recalled Article 48.1.a and how it disallowed any movement before the lights went out.

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The 24-year-old shared his point of view regarding the entire situation. Norris mentioned how he stopped in time before moving enough to be penalized. Additionally, the British driver recalled how he’d never done this before so he wasn’t aware of the entire situation. Subsequently, Norris asserted how the entire situation was investigated and cleared.

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I stopped in time, I've never done this before in my life so I don't know why I've done it. It was investigated and was cleared.
Norris said, as reported by racingnews365.com.

Lando Norris perplexed about jumping the start for the first time in F1 career

Lando Norris has never undergone such issues during the race start and hence was dumbfounded. The 24-year-old pointed towards the abundance of lights on the track at the Jeddah circuit. Hence, the British driver was confused as well as to what caused him to react unwarranted to the lights out. Norris exclaimed that he might’ve seen another light move which caused him to potentially ‘jump start’.

Things happen so quickly, it was pure instinct, not an input, I don't know if I've seen another light, there are so many lights here. I don't know if I've seen something and my body just reacted to it, but you're just so pumped on adrenaline, you’re just reacting to anything. [Maybe] I’ve just seen something go off or another light come on or something
Lando Norris
Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

However, the 24-year-old reacted to his mistakes in time and avoided getting a penalty during the start of the race. Norris had a great drive down the race and recovered well from the relatively slow pit stop carried out by the crew. The Briton went on to finish in P8, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton after some great laps of defense against the seven-time world champion.

Lando Norris will continue to train and score better results down the season. McLaren has shown their capabilities as a team to fight at the forefront alongside the Red Bulls and others. Additionally, the team is above Mercedes in terms of point and would likely continue to do so, until and unless Brackley makes some serious improvement in their challenger.

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