Lando Norris has openly called for a race suspension for Franco Colapinto following the incident that eliminated both him and Pierre Gasly from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The controversy unfolded during the first safety‑car restart on lap 36, when Colapinto miscalculated his braking point into Turn 1. Carrying excess speed, he clipped the side of Alpine teammate Gasly, sending Gasly’s car into the outside of Norris’s McLaren. The chain reaction spun Norris into the barriers and forced both Alpine cars to retire with significant damage.
At the moment of the crash Gasly was running seventh, Norris eighth and Colapinto tenth. Visibly agitated, Norris told reporters, “In the end I was just taken out. There are some drivers who really shouldn’t be in Formula 1, to be honest.” He added that the incident highlighted a need for stricter penalties: “I haven’t seen a case like this, but if you cause a crash on a restart you should at least face a one‑race ban.
The FIA must start handing out bans for this sort of behaviour.” Colapinto immediately expressed remorse over the team radio and later in post‑race interviews, describing his mistake as “big” and attributing it to cold brakes, cold tyres and a lock‑up that left him out of control. “I’m really sorry to Pierre, to the whole factory and to Lando. It was a huge error – the brakes were cold, the tyres weren’t up to temperature and I locked up,” he said. He acknowledged that his misjudgment had taken both Alpine drivers out of the points and cost the team valuable championship positions.
The stewards imposed a ten‑second time penalty on Colapinto for causing the collision. Because he had already retired, the penalty was converted into a five‑place grid drop for the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Under the current FIA system, drivers accumulate penalty points on their super‑licence; reaching twelve points within a rolling twelve‑month window triggers an automatic race ban. Colapinto entered the weekend with four points and did not receive additional points for the Azerbaijan incident, meaning the grid penalty was his only sanction. Norris characterised Colapinto’s driving as “careless” and not befitting the elite level of Formula 1. “It costs a lot of money – all my parts are now in the bin,” he lamented.
“In Formula 1 you would expect drivers to anticipate low grip and cold tyres. When you see incidents like this, it makes you wonder if some drivers belong in the sport at all.” The crash came after a challenging race for Norris, who had been battling straight‑line speed deficits throughout the weekend. He had already lost ground to Gasly earlier, having run wide into the first corner six laps before the safety‑car period.
Gasly, meanwhile, had been poised to match his second‑best result of the season by finishing seventh, benefitting from a strong weekend on the Baku street circuit. Alpine’s prospects were also severely affected.
Both cars had been in the points when the safety‑car was deployed, putting the team on track to narrow the nine‑point gap to the Racing Bulls team in the fight for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Instead, the incident left Alpine fifteen points behind the Bulls after a late surge by Arvid Lindblad, who claimed seventh place.
Gasly, still processing the disappointment, told Sky Sports F1, “It’s not easy. We had a very good weekend and one of the best race cars we’ve had this season. We were keeping up with Lewis Hamilton and Lando for most of the race and had a comfortable gap to the midfield. There are many positives, but I’m still struggling to come to terms with the outcome and the fact we lost out to the Racing Bulls by a large margin.
It wasn’t an ideal day, but we will move on and try to make up the points by the end of the year.” The aftermath also sparked a wave of online abuse directed at Gasly and his family, prompting the French driver to condemn the “completely inappropriate” social‑media attacks. Both Alpine drivers have repeatedly spoken out against the harassment aimed at them by a segment of Argentine fans following the incident.
Looking ahead, both Colapinto and Gasly have secured their seats with Alpine for the next season. When asked about continuing their partnership, Gasly emphasized respect as the foundation: “It’s all about respect. As long as there is respect, anything is possible.” Colapinto echoed the sentiment, stating, “We get along well. Since we first worked together we’ve had a good relationship, so we’ll move forward together.” Formula 1 will travel to Malaysia for the first time since 2017, with the Bahrain Grand Prix set to take place at the Sepang International Circuit.
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