‘It was wrong of me’ - Norris apologizes to Colapinto over race ban call

Lando Norris has apologized to Franco Colapinto for his comments calling for the Argentinian driver to be banned for triggering a multi-car collision in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Colapinto missed his braking point for Turn 1 on a safety car restart and arrived at the inside of the corner carrying too much speed, wiping out teammate Pierre Gasly who in turn was pushed into Norris. With all three cars retiring from the race, Norris voiced his frustration in the immediate aftermath, calling on the FIA to issue a race ban for such incidents and adding “when stuff like this happens, it’s because he shouldn’t be there”.

While Colapinto did receive a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Malaysia for his mistake, the likes of George Russell and Max Verstappen stated their belief that a race ban would be too harsh. And Norris now says he spoke to Colapinto later on in order to clear the air.

“Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race,” Norris wrote on social media.

“After the race, I sent Franco a message apologizing for the comments I made that I simply should not have said. I know better and emotions were running high but that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me. I’ve made mistakes of my own over the years and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.

“Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend.”

Following his post-race outburst, Norris received tens of thousands of comments on his existing Instagram posts, including from prominent Argentinian sports and entertainment figures. With abusive responses also being left on Colapinto’s profile, on Sunday his Alpine team issued a statement condemning the online abuse that was circulating.