Russell and Verstappen call Norris’ Colapinto ban demand ‘too harsh’

Lando Norris’ call for Franco Colapinto to be handed a race ban after the chaos he triggered in Baku has found little support among F1’s top drivers.

During the first Safety Car restart, the Alpine driver attempted to negotiate Turn 1 from the inside when he locked up, veered into his teammate Pierre before sweeping across into Norris.

All three were drivers eliminated, which only added another layer of controversy to an already chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris was unequivocal afterwards, arguing that drivers who make errors with such severe consequences should face a meaningful punishment.

But Azerbaijan Grand Prix race winner George Russell believes the threshold should be considerably higher, while runner-up Max Verstappen also felt a ban would go too far.

Russell: ‘That’s too harsh’

Russell, who edged Verstappen to victory by just 0.196 seconds, acknowledged that Colapinto’s mistake had caused substantial damage.

But the Mercedes driver felt the circumstances of the restart needed to be taken into account before calling for the most severe sporting punishment.

“I think that’s too harsh, personally,” Russell said.

“I think Safety Car restarts, cold tyres, a very small mistake can have big consequences. And from what I saw [on Saturday], that’s what it looked like. It was a small error that had a big consequence.

“I think, personally, race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and very reckless. So I think it was unfortunate.”

For Russell, however, the difference between a damaging mistake and conduct deserving a race suspension was clear.

Verstappen and Hadjar see mitigating factors

Verstappen took a similar view, although the Red Bull driver placed particular importance on Colapinto accepting responsibility for what happened.

“I think as long as, of course, the driver that caused it is aware of what he did, right, and apologized,” Verstappen said.

“That happens. I mean, a small mistake or misjudgment, you lock up, it’s on the inside, low grip, and then I guess a bit unfortunate that it involves so many cars.

“But, it’s unfortunate, it happens, and it’s not nice for anyone involved, right? But like George said, I think a race ban probably is a bit much.”

Colapinto did, in fact, immediately acknowledge his error, describing it as a major mistake and apologizing to his team, Gasly and Norris after the race.

The stewards subsequently handed him a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Malaysia rather than the race ban Norris had suggested.

Third-placed Isack Hadjar also felt the circumstances of the Baku circuit and the Safety Car restart deserved consideration.

The Red Bull driver, who made an impressive return from injury to claim his first podium of the season, pointed to the difficulty of keeping the tyres and brakes in their operating window while circulating slowly behind the Safety Car.

• Read also: Alpine hits back… again at ‘hate and abuse’ after Baku fallout

“From my side, I think the track is not good enough,” Hadjar said.

“You move out of the racing line, it starts to be very bumpy. It’s hard to generate [tire and brake] temperature behind the Safety Car, it’s going quite slowly.

“So then you just overdo it and then it has big, big consequences. So, I think a race ban is way too harsh.”

That leaves a clear divide between Norris’ frustration and the assessment of the three drivers who occupied the Baku podium.

While nobody disputed the consequences of Colapinto’s error, Russell, Verstappen and Hadjar all pointed to the same underlying question: should a single misjudgment in difficult restart conditions be enough to remove a driver from the next race?

Their answer was emphatically no.

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