Explained: Lando Norris’ “unsportsmanlike behaviour" penalty
It meant the McLaren driver’s P9 finished was demoted to P13, so he missed out on collecting any points.
The offence was when Norris came into the pits following George Russell’s collision with the wall.
The FIA Stewards essentially believe Norris slowed down excessively to create a gap between himself and his teammate Oscar Piastri, so that he would not lose time by pitting afterwards.
The FIA ruled: “The Stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
“During the Safety Car period the driver slowed to allow a gap to form between his team-mate in Car 81 and him. In doing so he delayed the cars behind. There was a significant difference in speed between Car 4 and Car 81 between Turns 10 and 13 (approximately 50 km/h).
“Article 12.2.1.l of the ISC refers to ‘any infringement of the principles of fairness in competition, behaviour in an unsportsmanlike manner or attempt to influence the results of a competition, in a way that is contrary to sporting ethics.'”
Norris hit back: "It doesn't make sense to me. Three or four seconds behind? Everyone quite often is. It was too early to box for what we were planning to do.
"I'm surprised. It's unfortunate because the rest of the race I was happy with.
"Of course, you go slow, quick, speed up, you want to keep temperature in the tyres so you go slow and open up gaps. I wasn't 10 seconds behind my delta!"
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
