“Not correct” that Norris is close to F1 ban after Austrian GP - Verstappen

Norris picked up two penalty points for forcing Sergio Perez off the track at Turn 4 at the Red Bull Ring, bringing up his total to 10.

Luckily for Norris, he will have two of his points chalked off ahead of the British Grand Prix. 

Verstappen was in a familiar position during his first years in F1, accruing eight points in his debut year back in 2015. 

The Dutchman got 11 points on his licence across the 2017 and 2018 seasons. 

Speaking after his dominant win at the Red Bull Ring, Verstappen believes it is “not correct” that Norris is so close to a race ban.

“So if you would have six of these incidents, right, today, if you get that six, I don’t think you deserve a ban for what he did today or whatever,” Verstappen said. “I think it’s just not correct. I’ve been there myself, I was at nine at some points myself and yeah… it’s how it goes but I don’t think with the things… actually, what you got the penalty points for, say you would get to 12, you don’t deserve a ban for that. 

“So there’s stuff… I’ve said it before, myself two years ago, that we should look into that but let’s see.”

Norris agrees that the system needs looking at after he was given three penalty points for failing to enter the pit lane under red flag conditions at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

He reckons penalty points should only be awarded if it is deemed to be dangerous or putting another driver at risk.

“In my opinion, they should be decisions about when someone’s done something dangerous and put someone in harm’s way and done something that they shouldn’t have done and then you have racing and when people have to use common sense,” Norris added. “Like my approach of the incident in Baku with the red flag and not boxing when I should have done, like, I didn’t put anyone in harm’s way, in fact it was the opposite and I did everything safely, like why should I deserve penalty points for that? Why should I deserve penalty points today for someone going into the gravel. 

“Yeah, nothing I’ve done is dangerous and I don’t feel like, maybe in some cases you deserve an on-track penalty, because you’ve done something bad in terms of racing and you just made a mistake but then you have things that people do every now and then which are purely dangerous. 

“If you do genuinely overtake in a yellow flag and do something else that’s clearly a rule that will put people in danger then I understand penalty points for a driver and if that adds up you get a driver ban or race ban but for little things like this, it’s stupid in my opinion. It’s not what Formula 1 should be. Yeah, I don’t know. I would expect and hope that other people would back me up on this kind of opinion.”