Lando Norris issues apology to Franco Colapinto over 'emotional' comments

Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto for the comments he made in the aftermath of their Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash, conceding his remarks calling for a race ban were "wrong."

Norris was among three cars eliminated at Turn 1 in Baku when Colapinto locked up on a lap 35 restart, clattering into Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who was then sent into Norris on the outside line. All three retired on the spot.

Norris did not hide his frustration in the immediate aftermath, stating that such incidents deserved at least a one-race suspension, whilst also claiming there are some drivers who do not deserve to be in F1.

"If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban," said Norris.

"It is just careless from people. It costs a lot of money, all my parts are in the bin now and people should get banned. It is not driving that deserves to be in Formula 1."

Colapinto was handed a 10-second penalty by the stewards, converted into a five-place grid drop for this weekend's Bahrain GP in Malaysia. He immediately took responsibility for the incident by apologising to both Gasly and Norris.

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Norris reflects and reaches out

But with tempers cooling and Norris himself facing online abuse over his comments, an issue Alpine publicly condemned, the Briton chose to reach out to the Argentine directly.

Posting on Instagram, Norris explained he had privately apologised to Colapinto before going public with his change of heart.

"Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race," he said.

"After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said.

"I know better, and emotions were running high, but that is not an excuse; it was wrong of me. I've made mistakes of my own over the years, and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.

"Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend."

The exchange comes after several drivers, including George Russell and Max Verstappen, pushed back on Norris' original demand for a ban, with Russell calling it "too harsh" for what he described as a small error with big consequences.