Norris Urges Colapinto Race Ban After Baku Pileup

Stewards gave Franco Colapinto a 10-second penalty for causing the collision that ended Lando Norris's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. On lap 35 of 51 at a Safety Car restart at Turn 1 in Baku, Colapinto locked up, hit teammate Pierre Gasly, who then hit Norris. All three retired. Norris's car was destroyed and he scored zero points from podium contention. George Russell won; Max Verstappen finished second. The penalty is expected to become a grid penalty at the next race, named Bahrain Grand Prix and Malaysian Grand Prix. Norris said the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff, calling it careless. He said it costs a lot of money and all his car parts are in the bin now. He added that drivers should anticipate things and that this implies some drivers shouldn't be in F1. Colapinto said he was completely out of control and was sorry to the team, to Pierre and of course to Lando. Russell called a ban too harsh, saying Safety Car restarts and cold tyres can turn a small mistake into a big consequence and bans should be for intentional recklessness. Verstappen also rejected the demand. Racing Bulls' gap over Alpine for fifth stretched to 15 points after Lindblad finished seventh.