If you look at the order of arrival of the Canadian Grand Prix, won as always by Max Verstappen, it seems difficult to judge McLaren's performance positively. Woking stables in fact, there is no access to the points area, concluding in eleventh place with Piastri and thirteenth with Norris.
Norris in the top ten in Canada, but the penalty arrives
However, there is a peculiarity and it concerns Lando Norris. The British pilot had indeed achieved an excellent top ten – actually finishing in ninth position – but was relegated to thirteenth place following the five second penalty that was awarded to him by the Federation. The reason? Having slowed down too much on the track, causing aUnsportsmanlike behavior”.
The fact
First things first: George's accident Russell triggers the arrival of the safety car. Many teams tried to take advantage of this, including McLaren, which called both Piastri and Norris to the pits. Being one behind the other – with Norris three seconds behind Piastri – the English driver wanted, according to the FIA press release, slow down about 50 km/h from turns 10 to 13, to avoid entering the pits and waiting for his teammate to complete the pit stop.
The FIA declares: “Unsporting behaviour”
Based on what was gathered by Motorsport.com Italia, according to the FIA, Norris would have performed one: “Violation of the principles of fairness in competition, behavior in a way unsportsmanlike or attempt to influence the results of a competition, in a manner contrary to sporting ethics”. For this reason, there was a five second penalty.
Norris doesn't agree: "It's a meaningless penalty"
Norris didn't take the decision very well, calling it “nonsense”. At the end of the GP, the English driver in fact intervened on the issue and admitted"I was told to return to the pits just three seconds before entering the pit lane, at which point I was already at high speed, so it makes no sense to me. There are a lot of times when it's slow in VSC, so if I get a penalty today I should get it for the last three years and so should everyone else, but no, I don't think I did anything wrong".
STATEMENT SOURCE: Motorsport.com Italy
