Lando Norris says he didn’t see a yellow flag after being handed a 10-second penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix which saw his chances of beating Max Verstappen disappear.
Norris was chasing Verstappen in a tense lead battle as he sped through double yellow flags to find debris on the main straight.
The McLaren driver was restored to 10th place, plus the bonus point for fastest lap, following his brutal penalty.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I did wrong at the moment,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“Apparently I didn’t slow down under the yellow. I’m not an idiot, if I knew there was a yellow I would have slowed down. I don’t know if I missed it or I was just stupid, but the rule is if you don’t slow down under a yellow, it’s It’s a penalty, so it’s a fair punishment.”
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Watch the moment Lando Norris received a 10-second penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix
Norris’ penalty and misfortune for Oscar Piastre during his pit stop meant Charles Leclerc finished second, so Ferrari cut their Constructors’ Championship deficit to McLaren to 21 points.
McLaren are still favorites to win the title for the first time since 1998, but Norris said Sunday’s race was a “missed opportunity”.
“The team gave me a great car, so I am grateful to the team,” he said.
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Watch the best episodes of the Qatar Grand Prix
“I am disappointed that I could not do a worse job than I did and not give them the points they deserve.
“So I made the team’s job a lot harder than it needed to be. The team is doing a great job, but I let them down.”
Stella: We have lost any sense of proportion in the penalty area
The penalty also leaves Norris just eight points ahead of Leclerc in the drivers’ championship runners-up race ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Penalties of ten seconds are rare in F1 and Andrea Stella was baffled by the severity of the penalty.
“We have checked the data. Lando remains essentially unchanged,” the McLaren team principal explained to Sky Sports F1.
“We must say that the sector appeared yellow as soon as Lando entered the sector, but the requirement is very clear, you must lift and it is the responsibility of the driver to recognize that you are in the yellow sector and you must: retreat.”
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Battles across the field at the second safety car restart as Max Verstappen continued to hold off Lando Norris for the lead at the Qatar GP.
He added: “And then in the penalty shootout, I think we lost the sense of size and the sense of specificity.
“Can we look specifically at the violation, the level of danger associated with the situation and the fact that the yellow flag was raised?
“And then judge using these kinds of elements—proportion and feature—rather than looking at some kind of rule book that’s probably dusted on it and then applying it without any critical approach.
“So from this point of view, I think there is an opportunity to do better than the FIA.”
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Oscar Piastri thought it was “important” to leave on the podium and expects the constructors’ championship to end.
Williams’ Alex Albon’s wing mirror, which led to double yellow flags, did not trigger a Safety Car until Valtteri Bottas had run over it, then Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had punctured.
Debris was on the track for seven laps before the Safety Car was finally called.
“At the same time, I think it’s quite strange that the yellow flag was put up and then taken down, but actually the situation in that section was the same. there was debris,” Stella said.
“At one point it deserved a yellow flag and then a few seconds later it didn’t, which I would say is just unfortunate.”
Watch the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1 this coming week at 1pm on Sunday. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream via NOW
