Norris, Stroll escape penalties after Spanish GP clash

Lando Norris and Lance Stroll have avoided any penalties following their Spanish Grand Prix clash which saw both drivers retire from the race.

On Lap 44 Norris clipped the rear of Stroll’s Racing Point attempting to overtake the Canadian driver at Turn 2 which sent Stroll spinning off into the barriers while the McLaren driver had to stop trackside due to damage.

With both drivers instantly out of the race the FIA stewards confirmed the incident would be reviewed after the race. Following a lengthy investigation, the FIA stewards decided neither Stroll or Norris were wholly to blame which ensured neither driver would receive a penalty for causing the collison.

“The Stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from the driver of car 4 (Lando Norris), the driver of car 18 (Lance Stroll) and the team representatives,” an FIA stewards statement read.

“Car 4 attempted to pass car 18, on the outside, in turn 1 but did not in the view of the stewards, complete the overtake because the car 4 was not completely alongside car 18. The driver of car 4 believed that he had the right to be allowed “racing room” into turn 2 whereas the driver of car 18 stated that he was on the racing line in turn 1 and had to take turn 2 by remaining on the racing line. He stated he was not aware at that point, of the location of car 4.

“The Stewards believe that the driver of car 4 could have backed out of the attempted overtake into turn 2 and also that the driver of car 18 might have been more aware of the possibility that car 4 could be on his inside.

“Accordingly, we believe that neither driver was “wholly or predominantly to blame” and therefore in accordance with Article 38.2 a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations, “no penalty will be imposed”.”

Speaking after the race, Norris felt Stroll would have known he was close to him having defended into Turn 1 on both the previous lap and seconds before their clash but says he may not have expected him to continue attacking for position at Turn 2.

“It was pretty simple to be honest,” Norris said. “I was on the outside into Turn 1, he knew I was there, he defended into Turn 1. After that, I don’t know if he saw me going into Turn 2 but I was still on the inside then for Turn 2 and he just turned in and didn’t leave me enough space basically.

“He cut across the front of my car and he put himself out of the race and me out of the race. So a bit annoyed I didn’t get to finish my fifth grand prix, but at the end of the day we weren’t in the points so it didn’t cost us as much as it could have done in another race or anything.

“I didn’t think it was my fault, but I was the guy driving the car so I effectively lost the race for the team. It wasn’t for points, so it wasn’t as annoying as it could have been if we were in the points.”

Stroll has naturally defended his case by stating he was taking the corner as he would in normal circumstances but both drivers went for the same part of the track at Turn 2 which resulted in the pair colliding.

“I didn’t really see the replay so I’ll have to check it out in detail, but there was not much room there. I had to make the corner, so I turned in,” Stroll said. “There wasn’t much I could do.

“I braked on the inside and went deep into the first corner, and then I had to turn in for the next corner and unfortunately there was not enough space for both cars.”

Daniel Ricciardo picked up a three-place grid penalty for the Spain race after the FIA Stewards deemed he caused a collision at the previous race in Azerbaijan after he crashed into Daniil Kvyat.