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Reigning Formula 1 champion Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto after he called for the Alpine driver to be banned following Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Reigning Formula 1 champion Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto after he called for the Alpine driver to be banned following Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Colapinto triggered a three-car pile-up at a safety car restart on lap 36 that took his teammate Pierre Gasly and Norris out of the race. Speaking to media shortly after the accident, Norris pointed the blame at Colapinto, hinting that the Argentine driver does not deserve to be on the F1 grid.
“If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban,” Norris told media after the race. “I just got taken out. And the FIA should be stricter by starting to hand out bans for this kind of stuff.
“You want to be against the best drivers and when stuff like this happens it is because, yeah, they shouldn’t be there. ” In an Instagram post on Monday, Norris said his comments were made in the heat of the moment and revealed he had already apologised directly to Colapinto for what he said.
“Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race,” Norris wrote. “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. ” Colapinto, who was hit with a five-place grid penalty for triggering the accident, apologised to Gasly and Norris immediately after the race.
“Very sad and disappointed,” Colapinto said. “Big, big sorry, it’s a big mistake. Cold brakes, cold tyres, I was completely out of control. Unfortunately, I also took Pierre out.
And Lando of course. Big sorry to both of them. ” Norris’ original post-race comments provoked a bombardment of online hate toward the British driver across his social media channels -- largely from supporters of Colapinto. The backlash led Alpine to issue a statement -- the fourth of its kind published by the team this year -- condemning the online abuse.
- Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur vents frustration over Christian Horner’s F1 job search- Charles Leclerc admits Ferrari’s rivals have taken ‘big steps forwards’: ‘We must not lie to ourselves’- Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Alpine to consider next steps after Colapinto, Gasly DNF Ahead of the Baku weekend, Gasly revealed his girlfriend and his family had received online threats after he held up Colapinto in the closing stages of the Madrid Grand Prix. Colapinto has built a big fanbase in his home country of Argentina since making his F1 debut in 2024.
Colapinto will serve his five-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which will be hosted at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.
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