Lando Norris received a penalty during the Canadian GP last Sunday (18) for unsportsmanlike conduct, which caught the attention of many people. McLaren itself took a few minutes to figure out what was going on and had to clarify the doubt with the FIA.
The Englishman got five seconds which was added to his total race time after the checkered flag, which took him from ninth to 13th place after the end of the race, costing him two points.
The whole problem happened when the safety car was called out on lap 12. Norris was in seventh place, just behind teammate Oscar Piastri. To take advantage of the moment with the slower cars, McLaren decided to stop its two drivers to change tyres.
In this way, the team sent the following radio message to Norris: “Lando, safety car, safety car. You are the second car, you are the second car. Oscar three”. The numbering referred to the distance between the two, which was exactly three seconds.
Just behind Norris were Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon. The three were separated by only a second until the safety car entered the track. The Ferrari Monegasque was not called to the pits, but Williams also decided to arrest his driver.
This way Norris risked losing time during the pit stop, as he was right behind Piastri and so he could wait a second or two before positioning himself for the tire change, while Albon would go straight into the gap. Despite everything, McLaren managed to change the tires of its two drivers and bring Norris back to the track still ahead of Albon.
But when analyzing McLaren’s radio warning to Norris, the FIA used its new real-time assistance resources to the stewards and identified in the telemetry that between the time of the message to Norris and the entry from the pit lane, the British driver walked at 50 km/h slower than his companion, Piastri, who was in front. The difference was mainly between turns 10 and 13, the last on the Canadian track before entering the pit lane.
The average speed that must be followed in these moments of intervention in the race is indicated to the pilots on the steering wheel panel, where an indication of the time delta becomes positive or negative, warning if it must accelerate or slow down.
Also, as the track was under a safety car regime and overtaking is prohibited, he would have held Leclerc and Albon behind, at a slower pace than necessary on the track.
Walking slower, Norris was a greater distance from his team-mate and therefore McLaren had more time to change Piastri’s tires and prepare to receive the British driver afterwards.
Why stewards used the phrase ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’
With this data in hand, the commissioners decided to punish Norris. But what caught the most attention was the main reason why his punishment was called: “unsportsmanlike conduct”.
The FIA stewards at the Canadian GP could have framed Norris in Article 55.5 of F1’s sporting regulations, within the chapter that regulates the behavior of drivers when the safety car is triggered.
At this point the rule is clear emphasizing that “no car should be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner that could potentially endanger other drivers or persons at any time during the use of the safety car. This will apply to any car driven on the track, pit entry or pit launch.
However, the stewards preferred to frame the Briton in article 12.2.1.l of the FIA’s International Sporting Code (ISC), which regulates the behavior of drivers in all categories homologated by the entity.
The text, reproduced in full in the decision of the stewards themselves, recalls that drivers must be sanctioned in the event of “any violation of the principles of loyalty in competition, unsportsmanlike behavior or attempt to influence the result of a competition in a way contrary to sporting ethics.
In other words, more than the fact that Norris was simply walking slowly on the track, which would be potentially dangerous driving, the marshals judged that by keeping Albon on pace during the safety car, he would be using a maneuver that could be considered illegal to deliberately injure an opponent. Following this interpretation, the stewards judged that he lacked sporting ethics and therefore qualified the maneuver as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Norris and McLaren reaction
This type of analysis made by the stewards of the Canadian GP for such a maneuver is not common in F1 racing. Other drivers have already faced investigations and even penalties for entering the pits too slowly, holding their rivals behind while a team-mate pulled up in front. But never for “unsportsmanlike conduct” provided for in the ISC, but for the rules of driving during safety car periods in the F1-specific regulations.
Obviously Lando Norris didn’t take the penalty well and said he didn’t do anything wrong. “I was told to stop about three seconds before the pit lane. At the time, I was speeding everything up, so it doesn’t make sense to me. You often go slow during the virtual safety car . If I’m punished here, I should also be punished for the last three years. And everyone else too. I don’t know, I didn’t do anything wrong.”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella, however, believes Norris may have been the victim of a shift in interpretation that the FIA may want to impose on the analysis of cases like this now.
“We actually went to speak to the marshals shortly after the race as we felt that these speeds under the Safety Car or even the Virtual Safety Car should not be a reasonable offence,” he told Motorsport.
“It is possible that the commissioners will want to establish new criteria. We talked to them. Ultimately we trust their judgement, but we are reviewing it once again as we talk about Lando’s behavior as we came away from this race very surprised that it resulted in a penalty.”
Anyway, just like he did in the post-race video for McLaren NetworksStella said the team will not be fighting to overturn the penalty as they understand the arguments put forward by the FIA, although she sincerely believes the team was taken by surprise by the change in interpretation.
“We understand the position of the stewards. We understand they want to set a precedent, so this is a new way to interpret how you should drive under the safety car. If that’s the approach, fine. But it’s a shame that we’re involved in setting this new precedent.
The subject will certainly be discussed during the meeting of the drivers and teams with the race management at the Austrian GP, in 10 days. In any case, it will also be necessary (and McLaren will certainly keep an eye on it) to check not only whether this type of maneuver in double pit stops will be monitored again and whether it will again be labeled “unsportsmanlike conduct”.
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