Lando Norris has hit out at the FIA for setting a strict Formula 1 precedent with the "silly" penalty they gave him during the Canadian Grand Prix. The British driver was handed a five-second time penalty for "unsportsmanlike behaviour" for driving too slowly under Safety Car and impeding Alex Albon, in an attempt to create a gap to his teammate Oscar Piastri for a pit stop. When asked about being branded unsportsmanlike by the stewards, Norris told media, including RacingNews365 that: "Everyone knows that I'm not, so it doesn't really matter and affect me too much. "Once I really looked at everything that happened, there was even more reason for there not to be a penalty. "I still stand by everything that I did was completely normal, correct and by the book."
Norris: There is no rule for it
McLaren triggered the right to review the penalty, bringing eight different pieces of evidence which showed previous instances where other drivers were not penalised for similar actions. Williams was also present at the hearing and provided evidence from other races in which drivers were penalised for slowing under Safety Car to create a gap. McLaren also argued that teams had an understanding that such infringements under Safety Car would not lead to a penalty. The FIA dismissed their case because much of the evidence was not deemed "relevant" to the case, while also stating that "gentleman's agreements" cannot be used as guidance for rules and regulations. But Norris feels there was enough evidence shown which justified that he did not commit anything malicious that warranted a penalty. "What they [stewards] suggested happened, there's no rule for it. There's no you can't do this, you can't do that. There was a precedent set and that's the rule," he explained. "What I did was no different to what [Lance] Stroll did in Baku overtaking George [Russell] into the pit lane - and you'd class that as a lot more dangerous than what I did." "So it was silly, the team had plenty of things to show that what I did was not incorrect, had no wrongdoing, no bad intention, or whatever they wanted to say." In their decision document, the stewards claimed the evidence provided by McLaren and Williams "was different in some aspect, albeit sometimes in a minor way." They explained: "It is important to note is that the original penalty was applied in relation to what was considered an unfair action."
New precedent 'quite strict' and will lead to 'a lot of penalties'
Norris continued his tirade by highlighting that more drivers are likely to fall foul of the current precedent, which he described as a "strict" interpretation of the rules. "They have now set a new precedence of what is allowed and what is not allowed - and quite a strict one. We'll see I'm sure if they're consistent, sometimes they are not," he added. "If they are consistent, there will be a lot of penalties that are coming up over the next months if people don't oblige by the new rule. "They've [FIA] kind of set themselves this grey area, as there's no actual rule for it. They need to implement a rule, which also proves that I did nothing wrong because there is no rule."
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