Lando Norris received a heavy penalty during the Qatar Grand Prix for failing to slow during double-waved yellow flags.
The flags were displayed after the wing mirror from Alex Albon’s Williams dislodged itself from his car, flying off and into the middle of the track near the exit of the pit lane.
Teams advised drivers about the large piece of debris over team radio, requesting they stay on the racing line to avoid hitting it. After a few laps spent under yellow flag conditions, Valtteri Bottas ran over the debris which caused punctures for both Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton.
The Safety Car was deployed to allow for a gap in the traffic and for marshals to clear up the debris, while Norris was put under investigation by the stewards for ignoring the double-waved yellows.
Team radio messages from the Qatar GP show that Max Verstappen and Red Bull played a role in initially triggering the stewards investigation.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull trigger Lando Norris investigation
Double-waved yellows in motorsport dictate that drivers must slow down and be prepared to stop, as marshals could be attending a scene on track.
In F1, drivers are required to show that they have made an effort to slow significantly by lifting out of the throttle to avoid being penalised.
Verstappen spotted the flags when he drove down the main straight and lifted his throttle, however, Norris appeared to continue without slowing down as the gap between the two went from 1.7 seconds to within a second by Lap 30 when the flags came out.
After engineer, Giampiero Lambiase informed Verstappen that Norris had DRS, the Dutchman knew that he gained significantly and ordered his team to check to see if the McLaren driver failed to lift.
| Driver | Engineer |
| GP: “Lando, believe has a shot at DRS. Lando on DRS this straight.” |
|
| VER: “Check if he lifted for the yellow. There was a yellow in the middle of the straight.” |
|
| GP: “Yeah, there was. We’ll have a look and make sure he lifted.” “Max if you see VSC or Safety Car you can pit, otherwise stay out.” |
Once Red Bull checked the data, they likely informed Race Control that it was something worth looking at because of the advantage gained.
| Driver | Engineer |
| VER: “Is there still a yellow or not?” | |
| GP: “Yeah, we’re still yellow. Stay on the racing line.” “Lando did not lift Max.” |
|
| VER: “I hope you reported that then. My tyres are coming back alive.” | |
| GP: “Understood. Track is clear. And yes, we reported it Max, still no reply. “Just to be clear that was wide open throttle, on DRS, to the braking zone under Turn 1.” |
|
| VER: “Yeah, there was definitely a waved yellow there.” |
Fans ‘robbed’ of scrap between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris
Norris was investigated and handed a 10-second stop/go penalty and three penalty points on his super licence for failing to slow down for the double waved yellows.
The stewards document said “telemetry and onboard audio clearly showed that the driver of Car 4 did not make any reduction in speed in the yellow sector” and that the double-waved flags and light boards were clear.
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Peter Windsor felt Norris’ penalty was too harsh and ‘robbed’ fans of a battle between him and Verstappen on track, as it effectively took the Briton out of the running.
Norris managed to recover to 10th place after denying Valtteri Bottas the final point for Sauber during the closing stages of the race.
