Lando Norris has kept his sixth-placed finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix and received only a reprimand and a fine of around £4,196 (€5,000) after an investigation by the race stewards. The McLaren driver was one of four drivers investigated for a bizarre incident at Interlagos.
After Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll spun on the formation lap and beached himself in the gravel, the decision was made to abort the race start.
Norris, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson then left their grid positions before race control had officially confirmed a second formation lap, while the yellow lights were still on, and all four were investigated afterwards.
Heavy rain caused chaos all weekend in Sao Paulo and Norris ultimately ended up sixth and 31 seconds adrift of title rival and race-winner Max Verstappen, who produced a majestic drive to take the chequered flag first after starting 17th.
Verstappen made up seven places on the opening lap and produced a masterclass to finish 19 seconds clear of Esteban Ocon in second. It was his first win in 10 races.
Pole-sitter Norris was sweating over his finishing position after the aborted start but the stewards chose not to change the race result. That means he avoids being bumped even lower down than sixth.
The stewards explained: “As the driver was on the front row of the grid this triggered following drivers to take similar action … In the opinion of the stewards the driver [Norris] precipitated the action of the drivers on the grid directly behind him.”
Tsunoda and Lawson, who started third and fourth, escaped punishment for leaving the grid because it was adjudged that Norris and Russell were at primary fault from the front row. The Mercedes driver received the exact same penalty as Norris but keeps P4.
The explanation to let Tsunoda and Lawson off read: “In the opinion of the stewards although the driver breached the regulation this was influenced by the driver ahead of him and as such he was not predominately responsible for the breach.”
As a result Norris now trails three-time world champion Verstappen, who is closing in on a fourth successive title, by 62 points with just three races remaining. The McLaren man needs a huge slice of fortune to win his maiden championship.
Even if Verstappen suffered DNFs in the next two races and Norris won both with fastest lap bonus points, the reigning world champion would still hold a 10-point lead heading to the finale in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris said: “George [Russell] probably felt like he won the race today and he probably deserved to win the race today more than anyone else but sometimes it’s just unlucky and the rules go against you.
“So a difficult day, I made a couple of mistakes that cost me against George and cost me against Charles [Leclerc]. Nothing more. It was a tough day, I did my best.
“I’ve had a lot of good races, it was about time that something didn’t go right. It was just unlucky. I don’t care about the hindsight side of things, that’s luck for them (Red Bull), nothing more.
“They got lucky on a rule that no one agrees with. Probably them they agreed with it but every driver has disagreed with it in the past. Today it benefitted then, it could have benefitted us if we just stayed out, but that’s a stupid thing to think of.
“Just a bit unlucky today, nothing more. Of course, disappointing. [Max] drove well, he got a bit lucky but that’s life.”
Sky Sports F1 pundit and former W Series driver Naomi Schiff said of McLaren, after Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri ended P7: “It just feels like they’ve left some points on the table, it hasn’t been the first time this season they’ve done that.
“Whether that’s coming from the driver in the seat or the pit wall, it feels like collectively they haven’t been able to dot their i’s and cross their t’s completely as a whole this season.
“Lando is a great driver but he’s up against the best in the world. Max rarely makes mistakes and the team (Red Bull) as well.”
