Lando Norris scathingly criticises Franco Colapinto: 'Some drivers shouldn't be in F1'

Lando Norris has hit out at Franco Colapinto after the Alpine driver forced him and Pierre Gasly into retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

At the first safety car restart, Colapinto locked up and came hurtling up the inside of the first corner, slamming into his team-mate and Norris, with all three unable to continue.

The McLaren driver was already enduring a testing afternoon at the Baku City Circuit. The woeful straight-line speed of his MCL40 left him powerless to defend positions, before a mistake at Turn 1 saw him tumble further down the order and into a fight with the Alpines at the tail end of the points.

"I was just slow — struggling a lot in the straights; you saw how quickly everyone came past me," Norris said after the race.

"An impossible race out there for me from that side and straight-line speed, so hopefully we get that fixed for next time."

Norris' brutal criticism of Colapinto

The reigning F1 drivers' champion did not hold back in his criticism of Colapinto, who has recently extended his contract with Alpine for the 2027 season.

Norris gave a forthright appraisal of his counterpart, arguing he is not worthy of his place on the grid and that he is deserving of a one-race ban for the incident, à la Romain Grosjean in 2012.

"But otherwise, I still made the mistake, and at the end of the day, I just got taken out," the 13-time grand prix winner added.

"So just some drivers that shouldn't be in Formula 1, to be honest."