Lando Norris had already endured a bruising Azerbaijan Grand Prix before Franco Colapinto turned a difficult afternoon into a spectacularly bitter one.
The reigning world champion's race was effectively destroyed on the lap 36 restart when the Alpine driver locked his cold front tyres into Turn 1 and careered into team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Norris, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, was swept into the wreckage and forced into retirement.
For the McLaren driver, there was little interest in treating the incident as an unfortunate racing mishap. Having watched his race disappear along with a collection of McLaren parts, the Briton called for the FIA to impose a punishment severe enough to keep drivers from repeating such mistakes.
'The FIA should hand out bans for this kind of stuff'
Norris had already struggled for pace in Baku, hindered by his car’s lack of straight-line speed, and worsened his prospects by running deep at Turn 1 immediately before the first safety car. The second restart offered an opportunity to recover, only for Colapinto's error to wipe it away almost instantly.
Norris was particularly scathing about the consequences of such mistakes, arguing that Formula 1's drivers should be held to a higher standard.
“I've not seen it. I just got taken out. I think the FIA should be stricter and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” Norris vented.
“It's careless from people. It costs a lot of money; all my parts are in the bin now. People should just get banned, because that's not driving that deserves to be in Formula 1.
The McLaren driver was then asked whether the slippery nature of the Baku circuit and the difficult conditions on a restart should be considered mitigating circumstances.
His answer left little room for sympathy.
“In Formula 1, I think you expect drivers to anticipate things,” he said.
“Grip is going to be low; tyre temps are low; they weren't even that low. In Formula 1, we want to be against the best drivers in the world, and when stuff like this happens, it's because [they] shouldn't be there.
“I've not seen it, but if you cause a crash in a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban.”
Colapinto admits he threw it away
Colapinto's explanation did little to soften the blow for Alpine or Norris. The Argentine accepted full responsibility for a mistake that eliminated both Alpine cars from a points-scoring opportunity and ended Norris' race in the process.
“A big mistake,” the Argentinian acknowledged. “I locked up completely with cold tyres and cold brakes and was out of control completely. Not a lot to say more than sorry to the team, to Pierre of course, to all the factory.
“We've been working really hard to score points and I threw it away with that big mistake. So, I'm very sad for the team. Of course it's a big disappointment. I'm sorry to Lando as well.”
For Alpine, it was a painful case of a promising opportunity evaporating in a few seconds. For Norris, it was another unwanted chapter in a Baku weekend that had already gone badly wrong.
And with the championship leader Kimi Antonelli extending his advantage, Norris was left with nothing but a damaged McLaren, zero points and a very clear view of how he believes such incidents should be punished.
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Race results
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