Norris warns protesters against 'stupid', 'selfish' actions

Lando Norris says protesters should not engage in 'stupid' and 'selfish' protests at this weekend's Formula 1 British Grand Prix.

Last year's race at Silverstone was marred when protesters from Just Stop Oil invaded the track following a Lap 1 crash between George Russell and Zhou Guanyu.

With the race already having been red-flagged due to the collision, the protesters' presence did not have a significant bearing on the Grand Prix, though those involved were convicted in February of causing a public nuisance.

In recent months, Just Stop Oil protesters have disrupted cricket, horse racing, snooker and rugby events, with the most recent incident coming during last week's second Ashes test at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, and Norris urged protesters not to endanger lives this weekend at Silverstone.

"It's a stupid thing to do to put your life in danger with cars driving around," Norris told media, including RacingNews365.

"It's a very selfish thing to do at the same time because of the consequences it has on the person driving a car if something happened.

Protests should be done 'in the right way'

The Briton added that he supported the notion of protesting, as long as it was done "in the right way".

"It's not my area of expertise, but everyone has the right to do such a thing. I guess there are good ways of doing it and worse ways," said Norris.

"I saw Lewis [Hamilton] saying he supports protest and people standing up for what they think is right, as long as it's done in the right way. That's the most important thing.

"I don't want to think about it as a concern. I feel Silverstone will do the best job they can to stop these kinds of things. I hope people are smart enough to not do it again.

"There are plenty of other, much safer ways to get just as much attention. I support it as long as they do it in the right way."

Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri echoed the Briton's view, adding that he hoped 2022's experience meant Silverstone was more prepared to deal with track invaders this year.

"Going to a racetrack with cars coming at 200mph is not the way to go about it," said Piastri.

"They've had the consequences of their actions from last year, of course I hope it doesn't happen again. I'm sure Silverstone will have measures in place to stop it.

"It's obviously a bit easier and less dangerous to jump onto a cricket field than a racetrack."