Lando Norris believes the penalty he received after qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a harsh one, as he feels he made the best and safest decision not to enter the pitlane. It all happened during Q1 of qualifying when the red flags came out. Norris was on the main straight and could be heard asking his pitman whether or not he should enter. By the time a decision was made, Norris had passed the pit lane entrance and as a result he completed another lap. The stewards acknowledged that since Norris was close to the pit, they dropped his penalty from five to three spots, however the British driver feels the ruling, which also saw him pick up three penalty points on his licence, was harsh given he had little time to react. "In my opinion, I don't feel like I did anything wrong," Norris told RacingNews365.com and other members of the media. "It's a tough one because going at the speeds we do, we have to make such a quick decision, what's the best thing and safest thing to do? And I feel like what I did was exactly the safest thing to do. "For all I know, the pitlane could have been blocked, and you're not allowed to enter the pitlane. And then it could have been a different story. 'Why did you enter the pitlane? You shouldn't have done it. "It's a tough one. I didn't have time to talk to my my engineer and say, 'Should I abort, should I not?' I did everything I thought I should have done but it sucks, because I guess in the end, there's a rule. "Also sometimes there's some more leniency to certain situations, when the driver has still done the best thing that's possible to do in that situation. "So a bit gutted because three places back is going to make our life a lot more difficult tomorrow. I don't feel like it's a fair decision. But it is what it is." Norris feels the stewards should show a better understanding of how little time drivers have to react to situations on track, as he feels a reprimand would also suffice at times. "For certain situations they should think what it's like to be in the driver's seat for a second," Norris added. "And what they have to react to at the speed they're doing, and the time you have to react to things, and so on. "I think a reprimand or something is the right thing to do. But [also] to have a bit more understanding in some areas, and be able to, over-decide the actual ruling itself, and have a bit of a rethink on what's actually really fair for the driver, or the team, whatever went wrong. "I didn't put anyone in harm's way. If anything, I took the safer option out of boxing or not boxing. And that makes even worse, I don't deserve three points on my licence for this. I didn't do anything dangerous."
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