McLaren has lodged a right of review petition over the FIA race stewards' decision to penalise Lando Norris at the Canadian Grand Prix. The British driver was handed a five-second penalty for "unsportsmanlike behaviour" under the Safety Car, where he drove slowly on his way to the pits. Norris' penalty dropped him from ninth to 13th, and he told Sky Sports afterwards: "It doesn’t make sense to me. "I was, what, three seconds, four seconds behind my delta – which everyone quite often is. It was too early to box from what we were planning to do, so I wasn’t planning to box in the first place, and then I got a call just before the pit entry." Confirming its petition, a team statement read: "We can confirm that the McLaren Formula 1 Team has lodged a petition for a 'right of review' regarding to Article 14.1.1 of the of the FIA International Sporting Code, on the Stewards’ decision to impose a 5-second penalty on Lando Norris for 'unsportsmanlike behavior' under the Safety Car at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. "We are very supportive of the FIA and the Stewards, and we trust them while they carry out what is a difficult job. We appreciate Stewards need to make decisions in a short timeframe, analyzing complex scenarios and often with partial information and multiple elements to consider. "In Canada, we were surprised by the penalty and uncertain as to the rationale behind the decision. We spoke to the Stewards immediately after the race to help understand the reasoning for the penalty."
"The FIA’s regulatory framework has tools and processes which allow them and the sport to deal with the operational complexity of Formula 1, especially for decisions which need to be made during the race," the statement continued. "The 'right of review' is one of those processes which showcases the strength of the institution in allowing decisions to be reviewed, should that be in the best interest of the sport and this is something McLaren fully embraces and supports. "Given this provision, the team took the initial explanation onboard and decided to review the case in a calm and considered manner, performing comprehensive due diligence, which included looking at the precedents. After this careful and extensive review, we believe enough evidence exists to submit a 'right to review' to the FIA, which we have done so. "We will now continue to work with the FIA closely, in the same constructive and collaborative manner in which we normally do, and will accept the outcome of their deliberations and decision."
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