Lando Norris and his sanction: “I let McLaren down”

The British driver lost second place due to a distraction on the track

QATAR – Lando Norris admitted to having disappointed his team McLaren in it Qatar Grand Prix for a 10-second penalty for not reducing speed for double yellow flags.

The penalty dropped Norris from second place to 15th before recovering to tenth and scoring a point for fastest lap.

The incident cost points to McLaren in their battle for the constructors’ title with Ferrariwhich will now advance to the final round in Abu Dhabi with McLaren with a lead of 21 points.

“Disappointed, of course,” Norris noted. “I let the team down, the team gave me a great car today. Easily the fastest there is and I screwed it up.”

“I don’t know what I did wrong. I’m not an idiot, if there’s a yellow flag I know I need to slow down. That’s rule number one, no passing.”

“For some reason I didn’t do that today, because I haven’t seen it or I missed it or something. I have to take it seriously. If they think I’ve done something wrong, I must have. I did something wrong. I can only apologize for the rest of the year with the team.

The double-waving yellow flags were displayed after the rearview mirror of the car Alex Albon fell and was left outside the racing line on the main pit straight.

Although Norris claimed he did not see the yellow flags, other drivers slowed down and, after their investigation, the stewards said they were clearly visible to the driver. McLaren.

“Telemetry and on-board audio clearly showed that the driver of car 4 did not reduce speed in the sector,” the stewards’ statement said. “The double waved yellow flags and yellow lights were clearly visible to him.”

“Compliance with the yellow flag rules is paramount for the safety of all parties and this requirement is clearly stated in the first bullet point of the Race Director’s Event Notes at each event.”