McLaren team principal Andrea Stella wants the FIA to review the way penalties are applied given the severity of the punishment given to Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris was given a 10-second stop and go penalty in the second half of Sunday’s race for failing to slow for yellow flags earlier on, with the driver insisting he hadn’t seen the warning. Stella does not dispute that Norris deserved to be penalized, but says the most severe penalty below a disqualification was questionable given the circumstances of a mirror on track leading to the yellow flag zone.
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“We checked on the data, Lando enters the sector when the yellow flag is displayed, but fair enough, the requirement is very clear, when there’s a yellow sector you are required to slow down and this is the responsibility of the driver, the penalty was deserved in that case,” Stella said.
“Which leads us then to two important requirements that we all, for sure, would like to know are applied when it’s about giving a penalty. It’s two important concepts: One is proportion and the second is specificity. I think the application of the penalty lacks both requirements.
“The specificity has to do with what case are we actually considering. Is there immediate danger for somebody? Is there a crash scene? The specificity of the incident in which the infringement was committed, the specificity leads into the proportion.
“The penalty needs to be commensurate, it needs to be proportioned to the severity of the incident. It’s interesting that the FIA themselves were going on and off with the yellow flag, and at some stage the yellow flag was even removed, right? Which gives a sense of from a specificity point of view, of how severe the situation is.
“So, I think I’m here acknowledge that checking the data Lando did not slow down, but the lack of any specificity and proportion is very concerning. And it’s also a factor that could have a decisive impact on our championship quest.
“It’s definitely material that the FIA should consider very seriously if we want fairness to be part of the going racing in Formula 1. It’s an important business. There’s a huge commitment from every team, from all the parties, and we need to make sure the business is run in a way that the fundamental element of proportion and specificity is guaranteed when a penalty is applied. Otherwise the consequence may go out of control.
“To me it looks like somewhere there must be a book with a lot of dust on the cover that was kind of taken out: ‘Let me see what it says, I apply this’. Seems a little bit too simplistic.”
Stella’s comments come after the FIA changed race director prior to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as well as firing a senior steward in the form of Tim Mayer. The penalty dropped Norris from second place to tenth in the race, leaving McLaren 21 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, and Stella says Norris should not be overly harsh on himself for the infringement.
“What I can say is that we are in a position of going into the final race leading the championship because our two drivers have done an amazing job and this has delivered the points that when summed give us the leadership from the constructors’ point of view,” Stella said. “Lando has been the main contributor to put McLaren in this condition.
“While we look at what we can do better – and certainly pain and disappointment are the prevailing feelings on Lando’s side – at the same time we can only be thankful to what Lando has done for the team and we are sure that this will give him even more determination to have a strong race in Abu Dhabi and complete the job that it was not possible to complete in Qatar.”