Lando Norris has expressed his bewilderment after receiving a five-second time penalty for “unsportsmanlike conduct” during the Canadian Grand Prix, which resulted in him dropping down to 13th.
The penalty was imposed due to an incident that occurred during the early safety car period following debris from George Russell’s car colliding with a wall.
As McLaren opted to “double-stack” their cars in the pit lane to ensure equal time loss for both drivers, Norris was deemed to have slowed down the pack behind him excessively.
Speaking to Sky’s Rachel Brookes after the race, the British driver conveyed his confusion regarding the penalty and maintained that he had simply followed a strategy similar to what most other drivers would do in such circumstances.
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“The objective was to maintain the temperature in the tyres,” Norris explained.
“Drivers typically leave gaps and create openings.
“It wasn’t as if I was ten seconds behind my target time.
“If the penalty was due to the difference in delta, then many drivers should have been penalised over the past three or four years.”
“So, I’m a bit puzzled. There’s nothing I can do,” Norris added.
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“I slowed down to warm up the tyres a bit, and as soon as I was instructed to box, I pushed and tried to go as fast as I could.”
Unfortunately, it proved to be an unrewarding day for McLaren as Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri, could only secure 11th place.
The team currently occupies sixth position in the constructors’ championship and finds themselves 27 points behind their main rivals, Alpine.